If you were to walk to the nearest tap for some water, how many steps would it take? Ten, 15, 20 — then a quick turn of a nozzle? What if, instead, you had to walk several kilometres down dangerous roads just to fill up a couple of heavy jerry cans with water that might make you sick? That’s the reality every day for millions of Ugandans.
Now, a group of volunteers are striving to make a difference by walking in Ugandans shoes for one afternoon.
The Walk for Water, sponsored by Novus Glass, is a unique event intended for all ages to get an experience they will never forget. With a minimum donation of $25, participants will walk 6 km to a “watering hole” at the Novus building, fill up their jerry cans or 4-Litre milk jugs, and return to Langley City Park to celebrate.
Novus has a long history of charitable partnership, and has donated $15,000 to help ACTS, the group hosting the event, to provide clean water to 16,500 Ugandans.
ACTS is an organization that builds gravity-flow systems to provide clean water to villages. This is done by finding a water spring source in the hills above the communities in need, protecting the source, then building a network of pipelines, reservoirs and accessible tap stands.
In 20 years, the organization has completed 21 gravity-flow water projects, providing clean water to 162,000 people in rural Uganda.
It costs $125 to provide a lifetime of clean drinking water for a child in Uganda, so each $25 donation during the Walk for Water has an immense impact. The goal, however, is more about instigating long-term empathy and awareness by getting the community together for an afternoon of feel-good fun.
The walk takes place on Oct. 1 at 9:30 a.m. at Langley City Park, 4979 207 St. For more info, visit the “Novus Walk for Water Langley” Facebook page, or http://acts.ca/walkforwater/.