When Aniyah was two years old she heard a story about people all over the world who don’t have clean drinking water. She used her imagination and it was still hard for her to understand how this was possible. She declared, “We need to share, since we have clean water and they don’t.”

A few months after Aniyah heard that story, her parents picked her up from pre-school. Her teacher had a story to tell her parents. Each student in the classroom was given a leaf, which would be inscribed with something they were thankful for. It was around the time of Thanksgiving Day in the U.S. Aniyah asked her teacher to write “GOOD WATER” on her leaf. When her teacher asked what she meant, Aniyah replied, “I’m thankful for good, clean water… Did you know that there are kids who don’t have clean water? That’s not okay!” Her teacher was blown away and so were her parents.

While it was hard for Aniyah to imagine a place where there are kids who don’t have clean drinking water, it wasn’t hard for her to imagine a way to help. For the past year, Aniyah has been creating these paintings to raise money to build a clean water project in a developing country. Aniyah’s parents told her about an organization named Charity: Water – that funds clean water projects. Aniyah learned all about how a well is made and how it can bring people clean water. She had the idea to sell her paintings and give 100% of the selling price to Charity: Water so she can help build a well.

Her paintings are currently hanging on the walls at Scout & Co and The Doughnut Dilemma in Burlington, Vermont.

To see Aniyah's paintings, click here:
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