Walking for Water

Villagers think of water as a gift from God. But someone has to pay for it. Although water springs from the earth, pipes and pumps, alas, do not. -National Geographic, Water:Our Thirsty World

With only a day or so left until my walk for water, this is my final blog post. I've thought a lot about walking for water in the last few days, especially when lying in bed trying to get better and stronger for the climb.

National Geographic's special issue on WATER claims that "If the millions of women who haul water long distances had a faucet by their door, whole societies could be transformed (National Geographic: Water - Our Thirsty World)." That's how big the picture is.

One of the articles in the magazine describes the life of a young woman, Aylito Binayo, who quit school at the age of 8, in large part to help her mother fetch water: "The task of fetching water defines life for Binayo... Even at four in the morning she can run down the rocks to the river and climb the steep mountain back up to her village with 50 pounds of water on her back. She has made this journey three times a day for 25 years."

In total, Aylito walks about 8 hours a day for water. I'm walking so that somewhere in the world, young women (and in some cases young men) like her won't have to spend hours fetching water. Maybe those kids will go to school instead. Maybe they'll spend more time growing food. Maybe they'll raise more animals, or even start a small business. In any event, I hope that my small gesture will allow someone to have a better life.