Walking for Water
ADAMS TWP — There are certain aspects of daily life many people in this country take for granted, clean water being one of them.
In other countries, however, access to water is a challenge. Even if it can be obtained, making the water safe for drinking, cooking and bathing can also be an issue.
In recognition of World Water Day, which is Monday, a Walk 4 Water event Saturday morning at Adams Township Community Park sought to raise money and to educate people.
Donations were accepted that will aid people in Honduras through an organization known as Honduras Hope Mission. Many people living in the Central American country have little or no access to clean water.
The event was organized by the Rich-Mar and Keystone Rotaries, with help from the Cranberry Township, Zelienople and Grove City Rotaries and the Butler County Tourism and Convention Bureau.
Gary Weston, a member of Rich-Mar Rotary, helped coordinate the day's activities.“Our primary purpose with this is education,” he said. “There are many places in the world where people have to walk miles on a daily basis to get water for their families.“This responsibility often falls to women and young girls and because of this, they lose out on time at school and many of them drop out,” he said.To give Saturday's walkers, which numbered 60, an idea of the time and effort needed to obtain water in developing countries, each of them was given a gallon of water to carry before setting out on one of three walking paths.The longest one was 1.3 miles, which was taken by Mars resident Leslie Silvestri and her daughter, Alayna. The latter is a member of the youth group at Glade Run Church, which had a strong presence at Saturday's event.“There were some steep inclines on the path. Alayna gave me her gallon of water to carry a few times,” Leslie said. “I can't imagine doing this every day.”Weston, who has been involved with Honduras Hope Mission for 12 years, has made eight trips to the country. He pointed out people he has met there often carry up to five times the weight in water than what the walkers did Saturday.“That's over 40 pounds,” he exclaimed. “It takes a lot of time and effort.”And once that effort is made, the water is often not clean. The health issues that come with drinking contaminated water include gastrointestinal ailments and can be very serious, even deadly.“Every year, 315,000 children around the world under the age of 5 die from drinking bad water,” Weston added. “It gets in their system, causes diarrhea, and they become dehydrated and just don't have the strength to live.”This is where the donations — collected before and during Saturday's event — come in. The money will be used to purchase water filters for families in Honduras. Each filter costs $25 and is effective in killing parasites and bacteria in the water for two years.Weston believes money received through donations will total over $2,000.
“When people think of a rotary, a lot of them think it's just local,” said John Marshall, president of Cranberry Township Rotary. “But we are involved on an international level. We've helped people in other countries like Guatemala and Haiti. This is the first time a Walk 4 Water event has been held around here, but they happen all over the world.”“What we are hoping for is that today is a kickoff to a yearlong event,” Weston added. “Other Rotaries can set up similar events, Boy Scout troops as well, anyone can help out with this.”That's where the education comes in. If more people know the extent of water problems other countries face, they're more liable to help, advocates believe.Fliers including trivia questions regarding the availability and usage of clean water around the world were handed out.Signs along the walking routes included other facts about water. One informed walkers that 2.4 billion people worldwide don't have access to basic sanitation such as toilets or safe latrines.Sara Ahlgren, an adult who helped escort Glade Run's youths through the park, lauded the purpose and presentation of Walk 4 Water.“I think it's important for young people to learn about things like this,” she said. “Many don't realize the needs of other people unless it affects them.”
