Immersed in the World
When I saw the blue five-gallon water jugs that Walk 1st International provides for their Walk for Water campaign, I was taken instantly back to the time my husband and I regularly transported water by very similar, blue, forty pound water jugs.
We were living at and operating a little off-the-grid beachfront resort in the Caribbean and our solar powered freezers weren’t able to freeze water into ice cubes fast enough to keep a supply for our guests.
So we kept a house in a nearby village that was hooked up to the grid and had deep freezers that froze ice solid within a day, but the house had no running water (which is whole other story).
And so we filled the blue jugs with filtered rainwater and, did I mention our resort could only be reached by boat? Well, we hauled each of those forty pound jugs to the boat and boated them to the village and left them at the beach and walked up the road to retrieve the parked truck and drove down to the beach and loaded the forty pound jugs into the truck and then carried those miserable forty pound jugs from the truck into the house, to make ice.
It sucked. Big time.
But it was a situation we chose. And there were many perks. We were running a resort IN THE CARIBBEAN, after all. So I have no right complaining.
What I learned from that experience is sympathy for people who have to carry their water long distances to survive. Many people do, and no one should have to.
Walk 1st International’s aim is to create awareness and raise funds to provide clean water to communities around the world. Last weekend they held an event in Seattle and invited participants to carry what could be their day’s supply of water five kilometers.
I was impressed by the participants.
Walk 1st International raised more than $42,000 that day to fund clean water projects in Honduras, Ethiopia, India and Bangladesh.
Bravo Walk 1st International!
Bravo participants!
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Nicole: I loved reading this new article. You know, you were so ABSOLUTELY RIGHT – some things you just know at the time “this is not one of those things we need to share with Mother or Dad right now. Maybe in a few years – they will be better able to accept it”. I am so proud that you and Brian met these obstacles “head on”, whether you had the time or energy at that moment. You were definitely the “pioneers” so-to-say of our families————-and you all survived! The best thing of all – the wonderful memories you made for yourselves, your children and the rest of your family. Kudos to you all!!!! This is a great story!
Hugs,
Rosella
Hi Rosella, I didn’t remember not telling you about this, it was such of part of everyday life for us. But life was busy, so maybe not… And you’re right, it was probably for the better.
What a fantastic way to raise awareness, Nicole.
I’m chuckling to myself imagining you and your hubby muttering away to yourselves hauling those wretched tubs day after day. 
You’ve totally got it, Krista.
Even our staff, who were more used to inconveniences than us, despised it.
“Many people do, and no one should have to.” that sums it up perfectly.
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