BUEY TUT
Buey Ray Tut almost gave up on his dream to bring clean, accessible water to South Sudan villages when his nonprofit organization, Aqua-Africa, was attempting to drill its first well in 2011. To be sure, rain, bureaucratic red tape and a broken hydraulic pump on the drill didn’t help. But being thrown in jail was nearly the last straw. Tut and his drill operator were traveling to fix the broken pump when their truck was stopped by armed officers. “They say we hit a cow along the road, and the farmer wanted to be reimbursed,” Tut recalled. He felt they were being extorted for money, but they didn’t dare resist arrest. “When someone has a gun, you do what they say.” They were taken to jail and held for two days before villagers posted bail. Tut wondered if it was worth continuing. His answer came when the well was finished and fresh water flowed for the village of 830 people. “It was an awe-inspiring experience to see their joy and the smiles on their faces,” he recalled. Tut knows their plight personally. Born and raised in South Sudan in a small village called Maiwut, he remembers walking miles to fetch fresh water for his family from a river. Tut immigrated to the U.S. with his family when he was 11. He graduated from UNO in 2008 with a degree in economics and political science and two years later with childhood friend Jacob Khol formed Aqua-Africa (aqua-africa.net). So far, the organization has drilled 30 wells in seven villages — providing clean, accessible water to some 15,000 people. “We want to see these villages become thriving towns,” Tut says.