As the WaterAfrica planning team gets ready for our 8th(!!) annual Walk it is joy to look back through pictures and see new friends and old! Some families have walked with us from the beginning and kids have grown up with WaterAfrica’s annual Walk4Water embedded in the rhythm of spring.
As we Countdown to Walk4Water8, April 11, we’re reaching out to our Walk4Water Community and asking….
Why Do You Walk, Kelley Ilic?
“We got involved in the Walk4Water because of my mom, Melinda Gordon. She participated in WaterAfrica’s very first Walk4Water and then invited her family to join her in subsequent years.
Kelley’s Mother, Melinda Gordon (right), with Family + Friends at Walk4Water7
2 year old Katie at Walk4Water2
My daughter Katie has walked with Mom every year since she was 2. She’s 8 now and looking forward to participating in this year’s Walk as part of her Brownie Troop Service project! (Watch for Katie’s Brownie Troop at Walk4Water8! They’re focusing on the World of Water for their study theme this year and we look forward to their help at this year’s Walk!)
Originally our family got involved because it was a great way to experience a very small part of what walking for water is like. It has always been a fun outing for the kids, but as they get older they are developing a growing understanding that the water situation in Africa is very different from Oregon, and why having access to water is so important.
Kelley and Katie at Walk4Water7
Every year as our kids talk about how difficult it is to carry a small pail of water for a mile it gives us a spark for their imaginations: what must it be like carrying 50 times that amount, every day, for 5 miles or more?!? It definitely is a great teaching moment of the entire family.
We enjoy meeting the distinguished guests from Zambia who have joined the Walks on many occasions and I also love the exhibits that have been created and displayed in recent years to demonstrate what a tip-tap is and what a dishwashing station looks like in villages in Africa .
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Katie and Cousins meeting Charity Chinonge from World Vision Zambia at Walk4Water6
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Katie’s cousins & uncle learning about hand washing stations: Tip-Taps, at Walk4Water7
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I also love the sense of community that is present at every walk. All these people: families and friends joining together to raise awareness and money to support access to clean and safe water.”
Family working together to support access to clean safe water!
Please join Kelley & Katie, their family and friends, and the WaterAfrica Community as we Walk4Water April 11 – brining life-changing hope and opportunities to people living in rural Zambia.
Just Add Water. CHANGE A LIFE.
