Did you know that many women and girls in Malawi, Africa, walk nearly 4 miles a day?
This is not done for leisure nor is it to meet their minimum number of steps on a Fitbit per day. All of this walking is a necessity in order to survive. Women of all ages leave their homes each day to to collect water for their families because only 50% of the water pumps in Malawi are fully functional. That’s almost 30 miles every week – just to attend to basic hygiene and sanitation needs at home.
While many of us during the pandemic saw our commutes shortened, the people of Malawi still needed water and countless women and children continued these journeys. Add all of those steps up in mileage over the course of the year and you're looking at one person traveling over 1450 miles each year, just to get water. That would be like taking 7 roundtrips and 1 one-way flight from The Big Island to Oahu in equivalent distance. Multiply all that by all the people taking these trips to get water for their families in Malawi and you have far too many wasted journeys.
This is why Waiākea partners with Pump Aid to help provide up to one week's worth of clean water access to the people of Malawi for every liter purchased.
Wondering how you can help?
From November 30th - December 7th, Pump Aid will be taking part in The Big Give, which will match every donation they receive. One donation can make twice the impact.
In addition to making a donation, there are other ways to help such as creating awareness about this issue by spreading the word on social media. Use the hashtag #OneMillionWastedJourneys so that others can learn about what's going on in Malawi. You could comment, share, or tweet that faster than a trip to your kitchen or the bathroom.