I partenered with World Vision for this post.
You guys know I live in Washington – and here in the Pacific Northwest, we get a lot of rain. Not necessarily tons more rain than other places in the country, but certainly more cloudy and rainy days. We also have running waterin our house so we can take showers, brush teeth, flush toilets, run the dishwasher and washing machine. We even have a sprinkler system for our yard (which, honestly, really only needs to run for July and August 🙂 Being surrounded by so much water, it’s easy to forget that in developing countries, people have to walk an average of 6 kilometers (about 3.7 miles) every day to get water. It’s usually women and young girls who have this task, and often the water they bring back is still contaminated with life-threatening diseases.
I lived in Cape Verde for a while as a missionary, and while we did have running water in our house, we knew lots of people who didn’t. Plus, we still had to use bottled water to brush our teeth, and boiled water to wash our dishes.
But what can we do to help people so far away? World Vision believes the global water and sanitation crisis can be solved within our lifetime. World Vision provides a new person with clean water every 30 seconds as part of a full solution to end poverty. In 2015, World Vision provided access to clean water to 2.3 million people, and the organization’s goal is to provide clean water and sanitation to one new person every 10 seconds by 2020.
They have provided these ideas of how you can help at home.
Become a Global 6K Host Site: Work together with your church, school, community center or run club to register as a host site (it’s free!) and spread the word about how fun and easy it is to support clean water programs around the world! Whether your goal is 10 or 100 people, World Vision will equip you with all the marketing materials, race day signage and staff support for a successful race day. If you can’t become a host site, considering running or walking with other Global 6K for Water participants at a host site near you. This year’s race is on May 6th.
Start a Global 6K Virtual Team: Invite friends and family all around the country to join your “team” even though you will each be walking or running from your own neighborhoods on race day. Even those who wish to participate individually, whether on a treadmill or around the neighborhood, can take part in a global effort to support clean water!
Turn Coffee into Clean Water: Even small amounts of money can make a big difference for families around the world. Once a week, put the money that might normally be used to purchase your morning latte toward a “clean water fund.” Over the course of a year, you could set aside as much as $250 to support World Vision’s water programs.
Change a Life Through Child Sponsorship: Poverty is complex and rarely solved by one intervention. Sponsoring a child is a long-term way to get involved with World Vision and help a child – and his or her entire community – benefit from things like clean water through new or renovated wells, school fees and supplies, better education due to restored schools and teacher training, improved nutrition due to agricultural training, and healthcare clinics and immunizations.
Become a Part of Team World Vision: The Global 6K for Water is just one event organized by Team World Vision, a group of passionate people who run, walk and race to help children get clean water. Join Team World Vision for support in reaching your own fitness goals while helping others around the world.
Find your nearest location here –
(affiliate links)