As a 7-year-old, Wai Wai Tun remembers walking to her community's well every time she needed water.

She lived five minutes away at her aunt's house, but for others in Myanmar, the journey takes more than 40 minutes.

Here in Montana she simply turns on a faucet.

Yamina Belabassi, who was born in France to Algerian parents, recalls similar trips to the village well when visiting family in Algeria.

"Many kids get together to get the water, like we're going on a field trip," she said, adding that she took showers while standing over a bucket to collect the water. "That's how I realized how important water was and not wasting it."

Now the two women are helping others gain access to clean water. As co-presidents of Griz for UNICEF, they and 25 other students are gearing up for the Tap Project, part of a nationwide movement to reduce the number of children who die of water-related diseases each day from 4,100 to zero.

When a customer orders water at a participating restaurant March 19-25 during World Water Week, he or she can make a donation. And a dollar goes a long way. According to UNICEF, that dollar can provide water to one child for 40 days. This year, funds will support Togo, Vietnam, Mauritania and Cameroon.

During the Tap Project's second year in Missoula last spring, the group raised $4,000.

But teaching the next generation about water accessibility is just as important of a goal for the group.

Belabassi went to Missoula elementary schools last year to talk about the project and plans to go again. The children told her that when they ask their parents for candy, they usually get it. They didn't realize that elsewhere in the world, children ask for water and can't have it.

"It was a wake-up call for them — they were so mature and so responsible," Belabassi said. "I didn't know if I should break into tears hearing that. It was so sweet."

She hopes outreach inspires youngsters to take part in the project and others like it. Griz for UNICEF hosts several other fundraising events throughout the year, including Trick-or-Treat for UNICEF on Halloween and a dinner in November.

The University of Montana student group's efforts have not gone unnoticed. Griz for UNICEF has won several University awards, and it's been featured in UNICEF newsletters twice as a spotlight campus club.

Tun attributes the group's success to its diverse background — more than half of its members were born outside the United States. She's wanted to give back ever since first grade, when she received school supplies and books from the organization in Myanmar.

"We have seen in our country how UNICEF has helped in education, children's vaccinations and medication," Tun said. "We have seen it before, so now we want to help."

amy.sisk@umontana.edu