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HEAVY WATER

WALKERS RAISE FUNDS ON WORLD WATER DAY THROUGH SOLIDARITY WITH THIRD WORLD WATER CARRIERS

By Staff     4/7/2015

RANCHO SANTA MARGARITA — Nearly 150 people walked around and around Santa Margarita Catholic High School’s track March 22—some trudging under the weight of large containers of water—to call attention to the shortage of clean water in some of the world’s poorest countries and to support well drilling efforts as part of World Water Day.

The event was sponsored by Wells of Life, an Orange County-based nonprofit organization dedicated to drilling clean water wells in Uganda. To date, the group has been responsible for the drilling of more than 100 wells.

Participants raised money by soliciting pledges for each lap of the track they walked. One young man, according to Wells of Life Board member and walker Peter Callahan, carried a full jerry can of water—five gallons of water weighing 45 pounds—for five miles.

The event raised approximately $18,000, said Callahan, enough to drill three wells.

Walkers who chose to carry water were, said Callahan, acting in solidarity with women and children in rural Uganda, who routinely walk between three and five miles a day to fetch water from a remote clean well and return home with at least one five-gallon can of water.

For more information about Wells of Life, go online to wellsoflife.org.