"But it’s so much more personalized this year," says Margaret Hanscom, a WaterAfrica board member and Oak Creek Elementary School teacher, because each walker will wear a bib featuring a photo of a Zambian child in need of clean water.
Also new this year: Participants have the option of "going the distance" in the World Vision Global 6K for Water, which actually represents the distance an average Zambian without a clean water source must walk every day.
The money raised on Saturday will go directly to World Vision, the largest non-governmental provider of clean water in the developing world, which will use the funds to dig new water wells, build handwashing stations, improve water infrastructure and pipelines, train community members to maintain the projects and more.
Hanscom says the importance of water access is easy for young students to understand and appreciate, because it’s a resource that they use every day.
Through WaterAfrica’s interactive program, students learn about the dangers of drinking dirty water, the lengths Zambian women and girls have to walk to obtain clean water and the impact that has on life in the African nation, including a high infant mortality rate and a lack of education for girls.
So these girls are not able to go to school and get an education," Hanscom says.
Hanscom says her favorite part about being on the WaterAfrica board and working on the Walk4Water event is interacting with students.
"Growing up at the church and being a part of my family has shown me caring about the world matters to me," she says.
Being a part of a church that feels responsible for the lives of others has really motivated me."
Registration for Saturday’s events is available online at tinyurl.com/Walk4Water11.