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VIDEO: Participants laden with heavy yellow jerry cans for Langley charity walk

The walk is intented to show people what life is like when water must be hauled long distances.
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Chloe Wiebe soon discovered that one way to lug a container is on her head. She was one of the people taking part in the Walk for Water on Saturday. (Heather Colpitts/Langley Advance)

A parade of bright yellow jerry cans were hauled through Fort Langley Saturday morning to provide a hands-on lesson about having to haul water.

The Walk for Water is intended to give people a glimpse into the lives of millions of Ugandans who must haul water daily.

“We walk three kilometres to understand what the daily task of collecting water feels like for Ugandans. Together we’ll carry jerry cans to a “watering hole,” fill them and return to our starting point with the heavy load,” explained Jeff Golby, with ACTS.

Acts for Water is a charity trying to help people in Uganda and Walk for Water is the annual exercise in empathy.

While it does raise some money (people are asked to give $25), the event is intended to let people walk several kilometres in another person’s shoes.

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The group works to provide clean water to Ugandans. So much effort is needed daily to walk to water sources and haul water back.

Acts works with communities in the impoverished African nation to create basic infrastructure for water systems.

The ripple effect is that children, who had spend much of their day to help their families haul water, now can attend school.

The cleaner water improves people’s health, and allows women and girls to focus on other activities such as education and business

According to the ACTS website, research in sub-Saharan Africa suggests that women and girls in low-income countries spend 40 billion hours a year collecting water – the equivalent of a year’s worth of labour by the entire French work force.

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Living Waters Church in Fort Langley was the staging point for the Walk for Water to help people in Uganda who must walk an average of six kilometres daily to obtain water. (Heather Colpitts/Langley Advance)
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Living Waters Church in Fort Langley was the staging point for the Walk for Water to help people in Uganda who must walk an average of six kilometres daily to obtain water. (Heather Colpitts/Langley Advance)
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Living Waters Church in Fort Langley was the staging point for the Walk for Water to help people in Uganda who must walk an average of six kilometres daily to obtain water. (Heather Colpitts/Langley Advance)
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Living Waters Church in Fort Langley was the staging point for the Walk for Water to help people in Uganda who must walk an average of six kilometres daily to obtain water. (Heather Colpitts/Langley Advance)
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Hazel and Evelyn Kovacs helped carry Jerry cans to the Fraser River as part of the Walk for Water, an annual event hosted by Acts for Water. (Heather Colpitts/Langley Advance)
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Living Waters Church in Fort Langley was the staging point for the Walk for Water to help people in Uganda who must walk an average of six kilometres daily to obtain water. (Heather Colpitts/Langley Advance)


Heather Colpitts

About the Author: Heather Colpitts

Since starting in the news industry in 1992, my passion for sharing stories has taken me around Western Canada.
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