THE WATER WALK

Women and children spend 140 million hours a day collecting water.

That number is nearly impossible for me to wrap my mind around. It’s a statistic I like to use because it’s a bit shocking and overwhelming.

But then I walked just 20 of those minutes to get water. That’s not even a fraction of a fraction of those 140 million hours. That statistic slapped me in the face.

When you take the walk that millions of women are taking every day – multiple times a day, when you dip your bucket into their water source, when you try to carry that bucket back without spilling it or complaining about its weight, that’s when it gets real. When you hear the stories of these women, who take this walk 6 to 7 times a day, who spend 6 hours everyday collecting water, it gets real. -Kayla Fruchtman

This community of Hoyo Oscuro (which literally means “The Dark Pit”), has never had access to clean water. Imagine what it would be like if we could bring them a water filtration system? Imagine how different the lives of these women would be if clean and safe drinking water was available and easily accessible. Imaginge if their children were no longer visibly sick with diarrhea and sores and rashes. This dark pit might begin to see some light.

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