Chances are it just took a short walk to the faucet to get clean water today.
But for many people around the world, it takes walking a few miles both ways to get unclean water.
Mahomet community members can help change that, though. On Saturday morning New Beginnings Lutheran Church, located at 304 E. Dunbar Street, will host the fourth annual Walk for Water at 10 a.m. with registration beginning at 9 a.m.
From the church, walkers will travel the Sangamon River to gather water and carry it back to the church to symbolize the walk many people throughout the world must make every day.
“As a congregation, we wanted to help alleviate the need for clean water,” New Beginnings Church Pastor Allan Oman said. “And also when a person, often women or children, go to a water source, which is not clean water, they often must walk up to a couple of miles in one direction. This daily task of getting water is not always safe: there are occasions when animal and human predators attack those getting water; we wanted to help provide a safe water source.”
Oman, who first saw what a Living Water Treatment machine could do for a Village of 3,000 to 5,000 people at a meeting a few years ago, said that many of us take clean water for granted. He told a story about how a water treatment machine helped improve the quality of life in an African Village.
“When the Living Water Treatment plant was installed, the health of the village improved so much that the clinic closed in that village and moved on to another village,” he said. “The Living Water treatment plant also allows children to go to school instead of spending the day getting water.”
In years past the church has raised $15,000 during the fundraising event. The funds raised go to Water Missions, a non-profit corporation in North Charleston, S.C.
Once a water treatment machine is installed in a village, the members receive training in how to run and maintain the plant, instructions on hygiene and general health. Oman said the plant often becomes a micro business within the village, too.
Oman also said participants just need to bring comfortable walking shoes, suitable clothing for the weather, and a container to carry water about a mile Saturday. Lunch is provided.
Lunch will be provided by Bourbon Smoke BBQ after the walk.
To register for the event or to donate to the cause, click this link.
