With tin bucket in hand, she’s off to collect fresh water for her family from a nearby borehole. Unlike so many in poverty-stricken Zimbabwe, Agnes is lucky. She only has to walk 400 metres to reach a newly repaired borehole in her village, which provides her and 300 other families with safe, clean water near to their homes and school.
Before this borehole was repaired by CARE Australia, Agnes – and many others like her – had to walk for hours, several times a day, to collect enough water for drinking, bathing and cooking.
Collecting water is a task almost exclusively carried out by women and girls in developing countries like Zimbabwe, Ethiopia and other African nations. But, even after walking such long distances to find water, what they would find would not always be safe to drink.
It was the plight of these women and girls that inspired Brisbane mum Rebecca Skinner to join CARE Australia’s week-long Walk in Her Shoes campaign.
Rebecca, who has Tarlov Cyst Disease, a debilitating spinal condition, set out to walk 50 kilometres in one week to raise funds for villages like Agnes’. The disease, in which a cyst wraps around a nerve root in the spine, causes excruciating nerve pain and makes ordinarily simple tasks, like walking, difficult.
But that did not deter Rebecca in the slightest.
“I realised that no matter how much pain I am in, women and girls in third world countries have it so much harder than I do,” says Rebecca. “I don’t have to walk anywhere if I really don’t want to, whereas they have no choice. I figured if they can walk miles and miles every day just to get water, so can I.”
Rebecca is one of thousands of Australians who are “walking in Agnes’s shoes” as part of the CARE Australia campaign to give women and girls access to clean water, education, and an opportunity to earn an income so they may lift themselves out of poverty.
CARE’s work to improve access to water and sanitation by developing water points and delivering training is saving lives and building healthier communities.
The physical act of Australians replicating the distances these girls and women have to walk to fetch water is a powerful way to raise awareness and connect women in Australia to women in developing countries.
South Australian mum Wendy Hore walked 150 kilometres in three days, with an average of eight hours walking each day. By the third day, Wendy’s body was beginning to break down, making the experience of women in third world countries all the more real.
“It was so much harder than I thought it was going to be,” says Wendy. “By the third day, as my body ached, I was thinking about those women in Africa who have no choice but to walk long distances every day – and also carry 15 to 20 litres per trip as they walk.”
Wendy raised almost $600. “It only takes about $500 raised to help provide a water pump for a community,” she says. “It’s helping women and girls living in poverty, so I hope it’s made a difference.”
The campaign sees Australians walk 25, 50, or 100 kilometres in their own time over the course of a week to raise money and awareness to improve access to water and sanitation for developing communities.
In 2016, roughly 5,000 participants across Australia will take part and aim to raise more than $1 million. The money will be used to help dig boreholes and wells to free up the hours spent walking, meaning girls can spend more time in school, women can earn an income, and, together, they can help their communities step out of poverty.
Having no access to clean water is devastating communities throughout Africa. In Ethiopia, for example, only 31 per cent of households have access to safe water, and 18 per cent of households have access to sanitation facilities.
Since CARE repaired the borehole in Agnes’s village, Agnes has been able to concentrate on her schooling and also enjoys much better health. In 2009, a cholera outbreak devastated parts of Zimbabwe, claiming 4,000 lives and infecting more than 100,000 people.
In response, CAREAustralia has been providing teachers with support and advice on how to teach hygiene practices that will improve the health of students and their families. It won’t just save Agnes – it will encourage better health throughout the whole community.
And the future looks bright. “When I finish school, I would like to be a nurse because I don’t want people to get sick,” says Agnes. “I want to take care of them.”
You can join thousands more Australians and Walk in Her Shoes from 8 to 14 March 2016 and change the lives of women, girls and their communities. Register today