During the summer of 2005, Brittany Young and her mother Joanne Young traveled to South Africa. While staying in Limpopo, the two decided to visit a local rural school. When they expected about forty children to greet them, over 1,200 fit into small and dirty classrooms, eager to learn. Upon arriving at Beretta, located in the center of the poorest province in South Africa, Limpopo, Brittany and Joanne were shocked to learn the school did not have running water.

The lack of nearby running water made life at Beretta extremely difficult. The gardens, their only source of food for the children, grew exclusively during the rainy seasons. Volunteer mothers endured miles of walking to retrieve a pail of water from a government pump to prepare lunch for the children. Without operating flush toilets, students were forced to use unsanitary pits and were not able to wash their hands to keep from spreading illnesses.

It was apparent the lack of water had deleterious effects on the students and faculty and obstructed the development of healthy, educated, and thriving children. Brittany was so moved and saddened by Beretta's conditions, that she decided she would do all she could to make a difference in the students' lives. When she began her freshman year of high school the fall of 2005, she began fundraisers and eventually raised over $10,000.

A well was completed at Beretta Primary in May of 2006 with the help of South African friends Brendon (ND, Nature Conservation, Tshwane University of Technology) and Sheri Schmikl, who later became A Spring of Hope Project Managers in South Africa. Water at Beretta Primary significantly improved student health and nutrition through a thriving garden. In 2007, a documentary was produced on A Spring of Hope and the changes at Beretta Primary since the addition of the well. The documentary was updated in 2010 and serves to educate people on the topic of the world water crisis and A Spring of Hope's work.

Beretta continues to serve as the primary model of success for A Spring of Hope, which was later founded in 2007 and has grown into a professional NGO with an ambitious and unique mission and twenty well projects as of July 2011. Beretta Primary has capitalized on their water investment by expanding their tremendous garden and by selling their surplus fruits and vegetables to the community. The school won a $10,000 Rand prize for their garden in 2010 and continues to exhibit incredible entrepreneurship and drive to improve the quality of life and education of its students.