In a compelling video on the World Vision website, writer Kari Costanza walks for water with Sabina in rural Kenya and gains a serious appreciation for clean water after carrying 70 pounds of dirty water back from a river that is miles away.
“I saw how water was part of every aspect of Sabina’s day and how if she wasn’t using water, she was walking to get it…The water itself is an obstacle to a girl’s future; because they have to get water all the time, they’re not getting an education,” Costanza says in the video.
And the water is dirty. “This kind of water is just a breeding ground for typhoid and cholera and waterborne diseases that cause diarrhea. I know this water is not good; it looks OK, but it’s not OK,” Costanza says.
“One of the most poignant stories Sabina told me was how she had seen running water once in her life…She went from house to house to see this incredible sight this water that came right from a tap,” Costanza says.
“I never knew that there were places that were like this, and once I was there I
didn’t want to come back,” Sabina says.
Her dream “is that they would all get an education. The education she never got
because she had to fetch water,” she says.
“I’ve always thought about water in terms of disease how if you don’t have water, or if you have bad water, you get sick and you can die, but I have a new understanding of water now. It’s not just about disease, if you don’t have water, it robs you of time. It robs you of education,” Costanza says.
World Vision challenges you to imagine, “how would life be different for you if we didn’t have safe water to drink? How would you feel if you had to spend hours walking every day to get water?”
The Innovation Network (TIN) recognizes that when women and girls are collecting water, they are not working or learning “the average distance women and children in developing countries walk for water is 6 kilometers (about 3.7 miles) a day,” according to the World Vision website.
On May 22, The Innovation Network at Brookdale Community College will be joining thousands of others worldwide to walk 6k, creating awareness and raising funds to provide clean water to children around the world. If you are interested in joining the TIN team, please contact The Innovation Network at [email protected].
For more information about Sabina and the World Vision Global 6k for Water visit www.teamworldvision.org.
World Vision is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization focused on helping the most vulnerable children overcome poverty and experience fullness of life.
VIDEO LINK: https://www.worldvision.org/clean-water-news-stories/walking-sabina-shoes-clean-water