A borehole well – dug by World Vision – gushes in Makalondi, Niger, providing local communities with access to clean water.
Photo ©2012 MARIANA CHOKAA/WORLD VISION. Source: http://worldvisionmagazine.org/story/world-water-day-water-around-world
By taking on the 2013 TC Marathon, M.A. group will bring clean water to remote African villages
It’s 7:30 on a Saturday morning. While most high school students sleep in and savor the weekend, a few Minnehaha Academy students are going to a pre-training group run session for the Twin Cities Marathon in October for World Vision.
Almost 900 million people worldwide don’t have access to clean water and because of that tragedy, 6,000 people die each day. Money can help, $50 will give water to one person for the rest of their life.
Imagine this: You’re 12 years old, you live in a country that is poverty-stricken, and have no clean water near you. You walk miles day after day, praying, hoping that the water you’re walking for is clean, so your family doesn’t get sick and die. You also hope you get there safely, as you’re racked with the fear of getting kidnapped, raped or killed. You hope that you didn’t miss much work at school while you were looking for clean water for your family. You hope that someone out there cares enough to change your life for the better; even though it feels as if the whole world has abandoned you.
Many students probably remember when Bradley Hofbauer, a representative for World Vision, a Christian humanitarian organization, spoke during an assembly about this particular problem around the world. He challenged students to run a marathon. By running the 26.2-mile race, it raises money to give clean water to people around the world, or more specifically, the runners from Minnehaha will be giving the money they earn to Zambia, a country in southern Africa. The marathon participants will be running the Twin Cities Medtronic Marathon, named the most beautiful urban marathon in America. The team consists of ten Minnehaha students and three Minnehaha faculty members.
The participants are striving to raise $1,310 before Oct. 6, the day of the race. The money will go to install pipeline systems, borehole wells, rock catchments, irrigation canals (for crops and livestock), and PUR packets (for disasters, where water is needed immediately). The solution to the water crisis in Zambia that Minnehaha students and teachers will be running for is specifically for borehole wells. A borehole well is an installed vertical pipe in the ground that has a pump or aquifer at the very bottom that pumps water up to the top of the well for accessibility and cleanliness.
“Ultimately, I decided to join because if people in Zambia are forced to walk miles a day for a luxury that I take for granted,” said senior Maddie Johnson. “Then I can run a marathon to provide 26 of those people with clean water for a lifetime.”
“The training will be difficult, but most definitely rewarding in the end. I am very grateful for this opportunity,” Johnson added. “I am very scared for the race. I know it is going to be extremely exhausting both physically and mentally, and I hope I am up to the challenge!”
“It’s been a really good experience,” sophomore Hayoung Lim added, “When [Bradley Hofbauer] was talking at chapel, what he was saying about the people in Africa about how they had to walk and how hard it was and how they had to do that like every single morning. I just felt like, ‘whoa, I really should do something about this’. First of all for my own health, and then also to help other people who don’t have the option to not move around like me.”
If you would like to donate to the Minnehaha Academy team, or a specific team member(s), go to the donation page on the Team World Vision website and type in “Minnehaha Academy” in the search box. You will get a list of all the Redhawk participants, hoping to change lives.