The Brookline Rotary Club is sponsoring the First Annual Global Walk4 Water on October 20, 2012 at 9am. The event is a 5K Fun Walk at Brookline Reservoir Park. This is part of a worldwide effort by Rotary International and others to improve the health and quality of life in developing nations. The route will loop through the park along existing paths, rain or shine. We are confident that we will attract a good number of adults and children participants. All proceeds from this event will benefit Brookline Rotary Club Water Projects both local and worldwide.

Over one billion people worldwide do not have access to potable water. Global Water.org believes the lack of safe drinking water and sanitation facilities are the root causes of hunger, disease and poverty throughout the developing world. Water projects have an immediate life-changing impact, particularly for women and children, who have the responsibility to gather water for their families every day of their lives in the developing world.

Providing a water source for an area of villages also impacts education, business opportunities and personal growth. It takes a lot of time for women and children to access water in many, many regions of the world. On the African continent, water can be many miles away. It takes time to walk that distance carrying a heavy commodity such as water (weighing 8.3 pounds per gallon). Even in developing countries that have a lot of surface water (such as Central American countries), villagers often must walk down to a stream that may be hundreds of feet below their village (or likewise up to a spring). More importantly, they must walk back to their village carrying water-filled containers up (or down) steep and dangerous hillsides.

Improving the water supply also helps education and economic security. Women and children can only carry 1 – 3 gallons of water (weighing 8 – 25 pounds) under ordinary circumstances so gathering water several times a day is often required. Once a water system is installed in a village, women and children have substantially more time in their lives to allow them the time to pursue things such as an education and to be more productive; for instance, by weaving products to sell.

So besides impacting disease, hunger and poverty (as if that wasn’t enough), providing a safe water source also opens the possibilities for higher education and business opportunities, especially for women living in the developing world. Again, there is nothing that comes close to making a positive impact for villagers in the developing world as giving them a safe source of water at their villages.

For more information, contact Dayse Sena at [email protected] or 617.955.9571 or Elias Audy at [email protected].

www.crowdrise.com/BrooklineRotaryWalkforWater.

If you have questions about the walk or available sponsorship opportunities, please do not hesitate to contact us.

Informational content was provided by GlobalWater.org, an international non-profit organization.