We’re running a series of blog posts highlighting WaterAfrica friends and the reasons why they participate in our annual Walk4Water.
WaterAfrica Treasurer Kevin Cummings shared his story in a letter to the editor for the Lake Oswego Review:
I am participating in WaterAfrica’s fifth annual Walk4Water event on April 28th because I have seen firsthand what a difference clean water and proper sanitation can make in the lives of people living in Zambia.
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| Kevin Cummings, Zambia 2007 |
In 2007 I travelled to Zambia and what I saw alarmed me. In many of the villages I visited, clean water was not available and there were no latrines. Women and children walked great distances several times a day to polluted water sources in order to gather their family’s supply of water. In one village I found women collecting water from a creek downstream from where people were bathing and tending their pigs. In another village children led me to their water source, a hand dug shallow well. As a young boy scampered down into the well he began filling his bucket with dark brown water that made my stomach turn. The water these villagers have to drink is not safe. In Zambia, one in nine children will not live to the age of five and polluted drinking water along with insufficient sanitation is the primary cause.
Other villages I visited had clean-water boreholes and latrines. The difference these measures make is remarkable. By providing safe drinking water and proper sanitation, child mortality is cut in half, girls have time to attend school, and mothers can nurture their families and tend kitchen gardens.
WaterAfrica is working hard to provide safe drinking water and proper sanitation in rural Zambia. Walk4Water is our primary fund-raiser for the year and I hope you will join us at Foothills Park in Lake Oswego on Saturday, April 28th, at 8:30 a.m.
Why do You walk? We’d love to hear your stories. Please share them in the comments or email jsearls@waterafrica.org if you’d be willing to let us feature your story in future posts.
