We Choose to Walk For Those That Have to Walk
Did you know: The average person in Africa and Asia has to walk 6 kilometers every day for clean water. That’s 32 hours out of every week spent walking for water. This task is usually left to women and children.
Chances are, you’ve never had to think about where your next glass of clean water is coming from. Yet nearly 663 million of the world’s poorest people think about it every day as they travel great distances to collect it from the nearest river or swamp. That’s a harsh truth to swallow, isn’t it?
If you’re passionate about creating access to clean water for those without it, you can help by doing something you do every day—walking.
The Zwyghuizen family started the Walk for Water program to make clean water a reality for people who don’t have it. At 8 years old, Greta Z. already knew that “it’s not right” that people have to drink dirty water. She and her family decided to take action and the results have brought clean water to thousands of people in Rwanda.
Each spring, volunteers and walkers gather in lovely Zeeland, Michigan, to Walk for Water, to do in one symbolic walk what others less fortunate have to do, day in and day out, simply in order to gather the water they need to survive. Awareness is spread, and monies raised in order to build and deliver life-saving water filtration systems to families in Rwanda through the 20 Liters organization.
20 Liters designs and utilizes technologies and trainings that fit the local context, while focusing on simplicity and sustainability to make dirty water clean for the world’s most vulnerable peoples. They train and equip local volunteers, leaders and health workers who have long-term commitments to their communities.
For information on this year’s Walk for Water in Zeeland, Michigan click HERE.