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During its past three spring musicals, High Point Friends Meeting has raised nearly $11,000 for its Water Works Ministry.

Funds for the ministry are used, in partnership with nonprofit Friendly Water for the World, to buy molds and materials to make water filters for East African communities.

“In my reading a couple years ago, I came across some distressing information from the World Health Organization,” said Linda Selleck, the meeting’s music minister and High Point Friends School’s music teacher. “Of all human misery people struggle with, the No. 1 concern these days is access to clean water for survival.”

Selleck learned about a filter that can be made without electricity. “We wanted to focus on Kenya and Uganda, East Africa, because so many Friends churches, hospitals, schools, orphanages are there,” she said.

The filters are 3 feet tall and 1 foot wide and can produce up to one liter of clean water a minute, according to Friendly Water for the World’s website.

The nonprofit will help train villagers and community members to make the filters using the molds. High Point Friends’ goal is to raise enough money to provide filters and materials for villages, orphanages, schools, hospitals and areas throughout the countries.

“They have filters that have been placed in the (desert) where people may walk for a couple of hours to find a muddy area with some water, and they dig it up and then scoop it up and get water.” The filter allows people to filter out the impurities.

“The cool thing is, as people are sent into areas of East Africa to create filters from molds, they are teaching (the community members) how to make the molds themselves so they can raise their own money and buy the materials to make (more filters).”

Selleck said we take water for granted. It’s something very basic that’s not necessarily available to many people.

Fundraising through the musicals provides several goals. “One is to tell a story that has Scripture-based and some universal truth and lessons that are helpful to our spiritual formation and the joy of doing that,” Selleck said. The other is doing good work to help others.

Through the musicals, a fall concert, High Point Friends School service projects and other church groups’ donations, the meeting has raised $12,000 or $13,000, Selleck said.

“It has been a joy and a privilege to be part of projects that increase performance, talents and give musical theater experience to all ages as well as doing a real good work through Water Works Ministries,” she said.

Contact E.A. Seagraves at 373-7109 or elizabeth. seagraves@news-record.com