Walking For Water
Here in the UK, we take it for granted we can simply turn on the tap for a drink of clean water. However, not everyone is that fortunate. In Africa, many have to walk for miles and put themselves in danger for water that is often dirty and unsafe.
Marius, 28, a mother of three from Uganda, used to walk around 3km to haul water for her family. Not only did she have to walk a long distance, she also had to wait for hours at the spring only to have to do the long walk home again carrying the water.
Aregash, 15, from Ethiopia used to source water from a spring near her village that gave off such a small amount of water that she and others from her community, most of them school aged girls, had to wait more than an hour to fill up their Jerry cans. They spent most of their time fetching water and had no time to study and finish home work. These girls were also afraid of being harassed or even attacked as they waited.
Thanks to Samaritan’s Purse improving the flow of water for Aregash’s spring, this is no longer the case. “I can now get my Jerry can filled in a few minutes and there is no need to wait for hours,” says Aregash. “I also have time to study and work on my assignments”.
Marius also no longer has to spend hours fetching water from the far-away spring since Samaritan’s Purse installed a Biosand Water Filter in her home. Now she simply takes water from a nearby pond, which the water filter then turns clean.
It is thanks to people here in the UK that Marius and Aregash no longer have to walk for miles or put themselves at risk for water. They are choosing to walk for water as part of the Turn on the Tap campaign - raising money for Samaritan’s Purse to provide people like Marius and Aregash with clean, safe water.
Take St Mildred’s Church in Tenterden, Kent. They organised a sponsored walk which raised £405 for Turn on the Tap. The group, which included an 11 year old and a 70 year old, walked a total of four miles during the summer to help families like Marius’.The Year 5 Group from Bethany Junior School in Bournemouth walked two miles to the seafront to fetch water and take it back to the school, raising £280 in the process. “The hard part of the trek was carrying back the heavy amounts of water, “explains school teacher and organiser Mrs Pandy. “When we got back we counted how much water we had collected. It was 89 litres which isn’t that much thinking of how much the people in Africa have to collect.”
Because groups like these in the UK have walked, children like Marius and Aregash in Africa no longer have to.
Being part of Turn on the Tap is a great way to help people like Marius and Aregash. Whether you organise a sponsored walk with your church, take up a sponsored challenge yourself, or encourage your children to collect coins using our new water filter coin collector – there are loads of ways to make a big difference.
To find out how you can get involved, visit www.turnonthetap.org.uk.
To make a donation towards the clean water and sanitation work of Samaritan's Purse, click here .
Donate
Direct Debit
Prayers
