Friends will mirror water treks of African communities
Four friends from Diss will team up to walk varying distances across five days in a bid to help communities in Africa to get better access to safe, clean water.
From Monday to Friday, Team Waveney will mirror the daily reality of water treks undertaken by African communities on the Ivory Coast and Nigeria.
Together, Tara Darrall, Sophie Court, Suzanne Breeze and Katie St John-Clarke, with their children and friends, will walk increasing distances, from one mile to three miles, each day.
Tara said researching the plight of her African counterparts had encouraged her, as well as her family and friends, to take on the five-day challenge.
“After walking my son to school recently, I wondered what it was like to walk to collect water for all the household needs,” she said.
“It set me off on some research and I was stunned.
“I found out that 263 million people in developing countries spend more than 30 minutes per round trip to collect water.
“It can mean an average daily trek of over six hours, with the task usually falling to women and girls.”
The team will walk halfway and collect vessels weighing the equivalent to the water that four of their African counterparts will have to carry.
“Since the task of collecting water around the world mostly falls to women and children, we decided to mirror this by doing our own treks to collect water with our children and their friends,” added Tara.
“I hope we can raise up to £300 for the Hope Spring Water charity, which aims to help people and communities in poor, often remote areas in Africa, access a sustainable source of clean water.
“I also hope we can raise awareness in the younger generation of what it means to not have easy access to water for drinking, cooking and washing.”
To sponsor Team Waveney, go online to mydonate.bt.com/fundraisers/teamwaveneywalkingforh2o or donate at Photo Elite, or The Natural Foodstore, both in Diss.