Response to Walking with Water, an article in the PGH Post-Gazette

On Sunday, April 10, 2011 the Pittsburgh Post-Gazette featured an article in the Region section written by Ann Rodgers about an event held by the Spiritan Campus Ministry at Duquesne and Amizade, a Pittsburgh-based global service learning organization. The activity: Participants in the Water Walk make a 6.4-mile trek to simulate trips made by women in third world countries in order to provide water for their families. The walk was intended to raise money to support Amizade's efforts to build rainwater gathering systems in other countries.
Duquesne student, Emily Cowan shared about her experience volunteering in Tanzania. The response that children gave her when she opened a bottle of drinking water caused her to realize how important something that she takes for granted is for their daily lives. The next day she brought bottles for all the students but this time they saved them, causing her to realize even more how significant and valuable water was to them as they reserved the water for their families back home.
My response: Activities such as this help raise awareness that improved living is not always complicated or costly. The science and monetary resources involved in improving these families' lives is minimal but the improvement to their lives is phenomenal. Water to these communities can not only be far away though, it can also be very dirty and contaminated. Thus reinforcing: Activism is not a luxury; it is essential to our understanding the cost of responsible actions.