International Baccalaureate and AP Environmental Science students recently came together for a good cause. The joint group held a talent show for students on Nov. 24 in the Golden Horseshoe to support developing countries.

The event was meant to raise awareness about the lack of opportunities girls have in Third World countries, and also shed light on the limited access to clean water these people have. In many places, women and children are forced to drink water from dirty ponds and lakes, which carry deadly bacteria and diseases that often cause millions of deaths every year. The water crisis prevents girls from receiving a steady education and generating income, locking them in a cycle of poverty.

Through the work and coordination of both the IB and APES students, the $262 raised will be going to CARE, an organization that helps educate girls in developing countries. In total, 21 students from IB and four students from APES worked together on this project.

The partnership began with students in David Hong’s APES class who were in the midst of working on the annual community service assignment. One of the groups happened to have two IB seniors, and IB also had a community service project going on that all students needed to complete called CAS — creativity, action, and service — which eventually led to APES and IB deciding to collaborate on a talent show.

APES was entrusted with organizing the talent show, while the IB students were in charge of publicizing the event, as well as addressing the social and political issues of clean water and girls’ opportunities.

“In the past years, we normally would do a canned food drive or something similar, but this year we decided to do something new and go a different route,” IB senior Eunice Chung said.

The students did not only raise money through the talent show, but also distributed canisters meant for donations around campus in order to help fund the effort.

The talent show itself featured many different acts, consisting of performances such as singing, art displays, lip syncing, instrument playing, and even skits about the importance of helping Third World countries. The students who organized the show also sold food and presented an informative video they had put together about their cause.

“While this is a blatant problem in third-world countries, access to clean water pertains to our daily lives too, especially with California’s current drought. In the end, the ubiquity and relevance of the problem really appealed to us and that’s why we decided to address it,” Chung said.

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