A DC Walk for Water – the realities of women and girls in the developing world

May 02, 2011

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Elynn Walter
WASH Sustainability Director, WASH Advocacy Initiative

 

This past Wednesday, April 27, I spent my lunch time walking for water with over 300 representatives from the US Department of State, the Swedish Embassy, the media and local NGOs. Maria Otero, Undersecretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, kicked off the event with some spot on remarks about the struggles women and girls face as they walk to get water. She also stressed how women and girls aren't in school and can't pursue other economic interests when they spend their days collecting water!

 

In honor of Earth Day, the State Department sponsored a 6 km Walk for Water which began at 21st and C streets ran along the Potomac to the Swedish Embassy in Georgetown and back. Great thanks to the Embassy for their water stop! I was very inspired to see so many people take time out of their busy days to walk for all the women and girls in the developing world who gather water each day just to help their families live.  


Maria Otero, U.S. Undersecretary for Democracy and Global Affairs, talks with reporters about the global water crisis.

My most visible contribution to the day was the Jerry Can. I walked through the DC streets with two bright yellow, plastic, 6 gallon containers often used to collect water in the developing world. As I rode the metro with these two massive containers, I thought about how close I live to a non-piped water source. I quickly realized I live very close to the McMillan Reservoir but it is fenced off and not accessible to the public. Apart from the fountains in Meridian Hill Park and Dupont Circle, the closest water point is either the Georgetown Waterfront or the Tidal Basin. How would I feel if I walked several times a day from my house near Columbia Heights to Georgetown or the Tidal Basin filled my big yellow plastic containers and carried the approximately 100 lbs (45-55 lbs each) back up hill to my house? Would I drink the water directly from the Potomac River if that was my only source? Could I harvest rainwater to avoid that long and possibly dangerous walk? Women and girls in the developing world are stronger and more resilient than I could ever be. That is why I work every day to advocate on their behalf.

In the US we often take the convenience and cleanliness of our water for granted. What will it take for us to make changes in our own lives and collectively work towards change in the rest of the world?

For more information on the walk, visit Maria Otero's blog and the Voice of America. To learn more about global water, sanitation and hygiene issues and solutions, visit www.WASHinitiative.org or email me at ewalter@WASHinitiative.org.

 

-- Elynn Walter, WASH Sustainability Director, WASH Advocacy Initiative

 

For more information:

-- Expanding community-based water health centers in Western Africa

-- The power of eco-san toilets

-- Healthy ecosystems, healthy people: what's the connection?