A group of 15 runners, including 10 from the Abbotsford area, are currently in Ethiopia, running on local roads, and learning about the local culture, all the while raise money for desperately needed water projects.
Posts on Run For Water's Instagram feed show participants trekking in the shadows of spectacular rock outcroppings, meeting local children, and crossing paths with roving bands of baboons. For more, see https://www.instagram.com/runforwater/
The trip originates with the annual Run for Water, and was prompted by inquiries from participants wondering about seeing first hand the water projects built with money raised by the event.
Several months, and a lot of planning later, 14 men and women, along with Run for Water executive director Peg Peters, arrived in the country last weekend for 10 days of running and learning. The group planned run about 10 kilometres each day see first-hand many of the projects built by the organization, and will meet people in the communities transformed by fresh and accessible water. The trip is about more than tourism, however. All the runners have not only paid their own way over, but have committed to raising $100,000 for future projects. Already four-fifths of that total has been raised.
Money raised by the runners will go towards digging a well to supply clean water, along with building a new school for the 2,700 people who live in Kudu, Ethiopia. To donate, visit https://chimp.net/groups/ethiopia-november-2015.
