On Sunday September 18th, I'll be competing with a team of 6 in the Savageman 70.0 (half Iron distance) triathlon to raise funds to provide clean water to children and families in Kenya and Ethiopia through World Vision. While World Vision has been one of my favorite charities for many years, with the drought and tragic hunger crisis currently affecting Kenya, Ethiopia, and other parts of East Africa, this is an especially appropriate time to raise funds for this cause. This region is also meaningful to me after travelling to rural Ethiopia in 2007 with a group from my church, where we set up one-day medical clinics in different villages in the region. During my trip there, it was alarming that nearly all of the patients we saw, mostly for diseases stemming from drinking dirty water, had no idea that it was the dirty water they were drinking that was making themselves and their children so sick. But education can only do so much- without access to cleaner sources of water, these children and parents will continue to get sick.
Our chosen race, the Savageman 70.0 Triathlon, as a relay team with one swimmer, one biker, and one runner on each team (I’ll be biking) with the sole goal of raising as much as we can for this cause! If you’d like to make a donation, you can do so through our team fundraising page, here!
World Vision is a Christian humanitarian organization dedicated to working with children, families, and their communities worldwide to reaching their full potential by tackling the root causes of poverty and injustice. It was founded in 1953, and focuses on things like bringing healthcare, clean water, education for children (and adults in areas such as better agricultural practices), and child sponsorship to communities in developing parts of the world.
I first learned of World Vision in graduate school when taking a class on International Health Finance Policy. Our professor, who had previously served in the Peace Corps in Africa and more recently had a lot of experience working as a consultant in developing countries, described the situation that happens all to often in Africa: government aid is sent to African countries to help deal with widespread hunger, poverty, and other issues, but due to government corruption, very little if any of these funds actually make it to the people in need. Therefore, non-profit organizations that actually have a presence in these countries and provide aid directly to the communities do far more good than the millions in government aid sent to these nations. World Vision is one of the organizations that does the most work in this area -- tackling lack of education and healthcare infrastructure, clean water, and other causes of poverty, which it does by actually being present in these communities. It is guided by the value that each individual is of immense value and should be given the chance to reach their full potential.
Last summer I decided to get involved with Team World Vision as an ambassador for their child sponsorship program, encouraging people to commit to sponsoring a child for $35 a month. This allows the child to go to school and receive healthcare, but part of the funds also go toward making improvements to that child’s community (such as building a well or health clinic) so all can benefit. I’ve been sponsoring a child for about a year now, and it’s been a great experience!
I’m excited to be involved in Team World Vision again this year, and all funds raised through our team, and the other teams racing for TWV this year, will go towards providing clean water for all communities World Vision is working with in Kenya and Ethiopia. To give you some idea of the amount of impact, raising $2,600 will build a traditional well (suitable for communities where water lies close below the surface) and raising $13,700 will build a deep well (necessary where the water level lies deeper, below a layer of rock- See video here!)
Thanks for considering donating to this cause!
