27 Aug Extremely important for young students to become more aware!
Walkers raise money to help with global water crisis
NUTTER FORT — Most people in West Virginia get clean water by simply turning on a faucet.
But in parts of the developing world, clean water can be a luxury. Some people walk three or more miles every day to fill up a bucket or container with dirty river water to drink and use for washing.
About 200 participants in the West Virginia Walk for Water on Saturday attempted to recreate that experience by carrying empty buckets from Clarksburg City Park to Elk Creek and then walking several loops around the park with buckets full of creek water.
The second annual Walk for Water was organized by the Clarksburg Baptist Church.
Providing water wells and solar-powered water treatment facilities to people in impoverished areas is one of the simplest ways to save lives said Michael Koreski, mission and outreach chair with the church.
“If you don’t have clean water, it’s such an issue. It’s amazing to see the economic impact we can have by providing water. It opens a lot of doors,” Koreski said.
A donation of $10 can provide water for life for someone in the Third World, according to Water Mission, the South Carolina-based nonprofit organization that the event benefits.
Last year, the event had about 200 walkers and raised $17,800 for Water Mission. This year they had about the same number of participants and were hoping to top $15,000 again.
Water Mission was founded in 2001 and has built 2,000 safe water and sanitation solutions in South America, Africa, Asia, Europe and the Caribbean, according to its website.
Koreski said he hopes the success of the event will encourage other churches and organizations in the state to hold their own events in the future.
The Rev. Phil Wayman of Clarksburg Baptist said the money raised last year went toward several water projects in Indonesia.
Unlike many of the problems human civilization faces, the global water crisis can be solved permanently. Wayman said.
“Most of the people dying across the world are dying of solvable and treatable diseases,” he said.
Wayman said he visited Indonesia in July to tour eight different locations that were helped by money from Water Mission, including last year’s event in Nutter Fort.
One village, called Laehundlon, in a North Sumatra province was so remote it was only accessible by dirt bike, he said. Getting potable water instantly solved one of the largest health issues in the village.
“They’d only had it for a couple of months, and the nurse there said that since the water had come in, the instances of diarrhea were completely gone,” he said.
Three local high school soccer teams, South Harrison, Notre Dame and Robert C. Byrd, participated in the event.
Coach Ron Williams said his team participated last year and the Notre Dame coach agreed to postpone their game, scheduled for Saturday morning, to evening so both groups could walk.
“We are friends this morning and foes this evening,” Williams said.
Eli Williams, captain of the Robert C. Byrd team, said the teams were bringing God’s glory into the community.
“It makes it real. The impact this has, you can see it,” Williams said about the experience of carrying the buckets.
Jarrod Marozzi, a member of Clarksburg Baptist, said the event gives participants a glimpse of what it’s like for some people in the world to fetch water every day. However, there were a few differences. The walkers in Nutter Fort were not drinking the untreated creek water and they were in a safe environment. For some, walking to get water is potentially dangerous on a daily basis.
“We take for granted how easy it is to get clean water from our homes and workplaces,” Marozzi said.
August 26th, 2018 – WVNEWS.com – by Joe Genco
