You can’t get much for a dollar these days. Not a loaf of bread or a gallon of milk, certainly not a gallon of gas.

But you can save a life.

That’s what Sharon Konyha learned, anyway, when she and the other women in her Sunday school class at Savannah Baptist Church set out to find a way to respond to what they’d read in “Dangerous Surrender,” a book by Kay Warren — wife of megachurch pastor and “Purpose Driven Life” author Rick Warren — about the HIV/AIDS crisis in Africa. In the process, they also learned many African women and children must walk up to 10 miles for a day’s supply of water — dirty, brown, contaminated water at least partly responsible for a significant number of the country’s deaths.

But they’d die without the water, too. It’s a catch-22 of the worst kind, and one that’s so overwhelming it’s hard to know where to start to fight it.

“You look at big problems and think ‘What can I do?’ and answer ‘Nothing,’ so you turn away,” Ms. Konyha says — only this time, she and the others in her Sunday school class didn’t turn away. They kept looking until they found Blood:Water Mission, an organization founded by Christian music group Jars of Clay that aims, among other things, to put 1,000 wells in Africa.

The 1,000 Wells Project emphasizes that a single dollar buys clean drinking water for one African for one year, while $3,000 pays for an entire well. It also teaches people in the villages to maintain the wells themselves, which was one of the women’s main reasons for choosing this project over the number of others that do similar work, says class member Carole Paxton.

“That was a big selling point,” she says, “because a well won’t do people any good if it breaks down and they don’t know how to fix it.”

In an effort to pay for the installation of their own well in Africa, the Savannah women will kick off an effort Sunday that will aim to raise $3,000 by the end of October. They’re encouraging their 400-person church to “drink water so others can drink” — or, in other words, to order water instead of soft drinks at restaurants and to donate the approximately $2 they save to the fund for the well. They also plan to raise money by holding a garage sale from 8 a.m. to 3 p.m. Sept. 13 on the south side of the Savannah cemetery, 402 Park Ave.

They’re small steps, but in a sense, this is good, Ms. Konyha says — good because anyone can take them and become a part of something much bigger.

“This way, everyone can be a part of the blessing,” says Cindy Esely, another member of the class. “When they told me what just a dollar can do, that brought it home for me. And knowing the mothers and grandmothers in Africa love their babies just like we love ours and have to worry about where their water will come from, it brought me to my knees.”

And she’s not the only one who felt a burden for these people. Ms. Konyha, for example, saw an “Oprah” episode showing the problem of poor water quality in Africa even before her Sunday school class decided to look for a way to make an impact there. Similarly, another class member happened to take a photo during a trip to Myrtle Beach, S.C., of a book she accidently dropped in the sand at the edge of the ocean. Its title, “Water,” was still visible even as water washed over it — which made the photo perfect to use in promotional fliers for the African well project her Sunday school class later decided to do.

“They’re just God things,” Ms. Konyha says. “They have to be.”

And so is Blood:Water Mission, which began as a result of Jars of Clay’s lead singer Dan Haseltine returning from a trip to Africa with a vision for blood free of the HIV virus and water free of parasites and bacteria that cause AIDS patients and others undue suffering. He and his bandmates envisioned this orphaned continent to be transformed through the installation of Christ’s sacrificial symbols of blood and water, the Blood:Water Web site says.

Given that their desire to raise money for a well began with them reading a book about Africa’s AIDS epidemic, it’s fitting they happened to choose an organization that addresses AIDS as well as water quality, Ms. Konyha says. And having witnessed God’s direction in this, she and the others aren’t too worried about where their project will go from here.

“Everything has to have a starting point,” Ms. Paxton says, “and God will bless it along the way.”

Get involved

Anyone interested in learning more about Savannah Baptist Church’s African well project is welcome to attend presentations scheduled to take place at 8:30 and 11 a.m. Sept. 7 at the church, 500 E. Pawnee St. In addition, donations made out to the church and designated for the African well project can be mailed to that address.

To learn more about Blood:Water Mission and its 1,000 Wells Project, go to www.bloodwatermission.com.

Lifestyles reporter Erin Wisdom can be reached at ewisdom@npgco.com.