Imagine a life without water
Do you ever think about everything water does for you?
Water keeps us healthy. At a basic level, it enables our organs to function. Access to clean water also protects us from disease. Surprisingly, water helps us socially. Can you imagine turning up to work without washing your clothes, cleaning yourself, or brushing your teeth? Without water, we would not be able to grow and eat our favourite food and drink. Finally, water gives dignity to our lives. Imagine living or working without flushing toilets?
Domestic running water is rare in Zimbabwe. Instead, women and young children in our communities travel long distances to access water. They carry the water in buckets on their heads and shoulders. The average journey is over 4 kilometres!
We only have to turn on the tap to get the benefits of water. They do not have this luxury. Instead, they have to walk get clean water for drinking, washing, and hygiene. We regularly see the results of these water shortages. Children have to drink dirty water which brings a lot of disease. Family and community farms suffer. Toilets aren’t properly cleaned and become breeding ground for disease.
Michelle is a 16 year old girl on our child sponsorship programme. She explained how water shortages harm children at school: “These days in Zimbabwe it is very hot. The temperatures are rising almost everyday. Many students are suffering from dehydration. At my school water is very difficult to get, so we must carry a lot of water to school. It is very difficult to concentrate on lessons when it is hot.”
Water has become even more important after the coronavirus outbreak. It helps us to stop the spread of the disease.
We want to create a world where every family has easy access to clean, running water. We need your help to do it. Are you ready for a challenge?
Water Walk: The 4KM Challenge
From the 5th September onwards, we want you to support those who have to travel long distances to access water. We want you to run, walk, skip, or ride 4km. It doesn’t matter how you do it. But be there to support them.
To take part in this event please donate £4 to the COVID-19 appeal.
Donations will go towards protecting the children with hygiene supplies, educating them of the risks of COVID-19 and how to keep themselves safe, and protecting our team of volunteers on the ground in Zimbabwe by providing hygiene packs and medical aid if necessary.
Your support will also help fund the secondary impacts of the virus, as we aim to continue giving more children access to clean water.
When donating to our COVID-19 appeal please ensure you write ‘4k challenge’ in the ‘notes’ section. Finally, make sure to post on social media and challenge your friends and family (please note 4 is a minimum number of people to tag but by no means a limit, tag as many people as you wish).
By taking part in this challenge, we hope to shed some light on the vast differences in the daily experiences of us in our community and those in the communities we support in Zimbabwe. We hope you will join us and raise money for such a great cause.
4 steps to success
- Recreate the journey a child or parent would make to get water: walk, jog, run or cycle 4km
- Donate £4 to our coronavirus appeal
- Share your walk on social media and tag 4 friends.
- Create change that lasts 4 a lifetime.
We are looking 4ward to seeing your attempts!
