Walk, Experience, Make a Difference: 4th Annual Water Walk for Women's Rights

The bottom line is this: Amizade has a wonderfully strong and successful water access program implemented in cooperation with nonprofit partners in rural Tanzania. The materials involved in this collaboration are funded largely through annual citizens' events: water walks for women's rights. People of all ages register, carry a bucket of water, and walk over a course in solidarity with women around the world who have to undertake the task daily. All proceeds support the water initiative, which ultimately saves lives, provides opportunity for education, and improves economic development.

Please register for Amizade's 4th Annual Water Walk for Women's Rights or simply make a donation to support Amizade's literally life-saving work with water in Tanzania. Also, please spread the word. Tell more friends. Make it a family day. Get the good people you know out there-walking the Walk. Post this, tweet it, otherwise announce, invite, cajole and coordinate your friends. That's how citizens' efforts become movements that make a difference - and the water walks keep growing in just that way. Thanks to you.

This year's water walks are coming up on next Saturday and Sunday in Pittsburgh and Morgantown, respectively. If you'll forgive the journey and the narrative, I have a bit more to share about how we got here, why water access is so important, and how we know Amizade's efforts are working.

Four years ago, I led the first of several university student groups on a community-driven development course in rural Tanzania through Amizade. The students and I learned several things. First, we helped an amazing local women's rights organization, WOMEDA, chronicle the fact that women walked an average of 26 miles to receive its services. The group subsequently got a small grant through USAID, and more women were therefore afforded basic rights protections like the right to hold property.

Second, we understood on a visceral level the cycles of poverty that Columbia University Professor and former director of the United Nations Millennium Project Jeffrey Sachs discusses in his book The End of Poverty: Economic Possibilities for Our Time.  That is, we came to see and more clearly understand the daily drudgery that dominates life in much of the developing world. Witnessing the challenge of everyday life brought us to a third conclusion that is ultimately backed up by significant data from the United Nations Development Program: water matters. Access to water is fundamental.

People who can access water easily have more time to work and to attend school. The United Nations Development Program indicates that investments in clean water supply yield an average return on investment of $4.4 dollars of growth in gross domestic product for every $1 invested. In other words, clean water is a catalyst. When people do not need to walk hours for it, they spend time in other productive activity. And when people have clean water, they avoid regular debilitating sicknesses that come with water-borne diseases. In fact the UNDP concludes that investments in safe water and sanitation are more closely linked to human development than is true for any other development intervention examined, including education, health care, and access to energy services. From experience what is perhaps even more compelling is knowing how hard women and children (it is mostly women and children) work for water, and how unsafe that water often actually is. See the photos to get a glimpse of both the struggle and the poor quality of available water.

These three insights: the importance and strength of WOMEDA, the ruthless challenge of cycles of poverty, and the fundamental status of water as a building block for living, learning, and working moved us to action. After the course, several of the students and I were part of organizing Amizade's first Water Walks for Women's Rights. They took place in Pittsburgh and Morgantown in April of 2008. (Archive: video promotion for year 1).

The proceeds from the Water Walks led to clear outcomes in Kayanga Village, where Amizade works. These outcomes include water tanks for gravity-based water harvesting systems on homes (pictured below) as well as (later on) village-scale water system development through cooperation with Mavuno, a local community-based development organization.

Each of the tanks you see above was connected to a gravity-based water harvesting system constructed of metal gutters that directed water off of the home roofs and into the water tanks. Cooperation with Mavuno and WOMEDA ensured that the tank recipients received the necessary training on how to ensure water in the tanks was purified before drinking. What began during a course in the summer of 2007 led to the first water walks in 2008, which led to the summer 2008 purchase and installation of several tanks like the ones you see above. Along the way, Amizade was fortunate to become a recipient of a grant through the All People Be Happy Foundation, which ensured that Amizade could continue to build its capacity to address water access issues in cooperation with partners in Tanzania. 

As is true with all growing movements, these efforts built on themselves. More and diverse Pittsburghers and West Virginians took part in the walks, more tanks were purchased, and eventually Amizade found itself cooperating with Mavuno on a village-scale water project, pictured below. 

Why? All because a few people decided to organize, take steps to get others involved, and spend a few hours on Saturday (or Sunday in WV) enjoying the excellent spring weather in Pittsburgh and Morgantown while making a vital difference for women and children in rural Tanzania. Walking does make a difference. The pictures above make that clear. What is more, Amizade and its partners in Tanzania continue to improve upon the work they do together (check out the summary!!!). The most recent family-size tanks were constructed with all local materials. And the Chonyoyo Village tank pictured above now supports water access for more than 300 school children. 

Kids can go to school, women have the chance to work or attend school as they wish. You can support that access by registering for this year's Amizade Water Walks for Women's Rights now. If you can't walk this year, please show your support with a donation to Amizade. You can specify your donation to go 100% toward the Tanzania water initiative if you wish. 

Be sure to check out this creative video on water access prepared for this year's walk: 

 

As you'll see, the video was created by a Duquesne University student, which begs the questions: Will WVU, Pitt, Duquesne, or the general public have the most water walk participants this year? I'd love your feedback on this and other questions. 

I've gotten a couple individual messages since returning to the blogosphere, along with a few book suggestions, which I hope to catch up on. Please post thoughts, comments, or questions below, and feel free to message me. Also, if you decide to become a follower or click on any one of the Facebook, Twitter, Email this, etc., buttons below I just might blush and I might also continue this blogging experiment beyond a month of occasional late-night effort. Upcoming topic possibilities: cross-country travel and a pick-up full of justice, education in the United States, and an ode to Colorado. Once again, your suggestions are appreciated.