meeting in the aisle

Help me Walk In Her Shoes!

Help me Walk In Her Shoes

Readers of this blog will know I recently went to Tanzania and Ethiopia as part of my work with CARE Australia. It was a two week trip where I got to interview over thirty people, mostly women and girls, about their lives.

Every family I met was living in poverty, though some were worse off than others. The three most common frustrations people had were poor access to water that was often dirty, not having enough food for their families during the rainy season, and not getting high enough yields from their crops.

I met so many women and girls who spend hours every day walking to collect water. The hours they spend walking take them away from school, their homes, and being able to earn an income.

This is why I’ve committed to Walk In Her Shoes again this year - because as long as I keep meeting women and girls who are missing out on important parts of their lives becuase of water, we need to draw attention to the crucial issue of water access in poor communities. And we need to do something about it.

Between March 12 - 18 I will be walking 10,000 steps per day to raise $1,000 for women and girls living in poor communities who waste hours of their day collecting water that is often unsafe.

You can help by sponsoring me (imagine the good karma!), or by joining up yourself.

Water containers in an Ethiopian Village

Walk in her shoes - The End

UPDATE: I raised $1,000 and reached my target - woohoo!!

So the time has come to pack away the pedometer and give my favourite sneakers a rest - Walk in Her Shoes, which saw me walk 10,000 steps a day for a week, has come to an end.

Thank you to all the wonderful people who have sponsored me along the way - all money raised goes to CARE’s poverty-fighting projects.

If you haven’t yet sponsored me, you still can - I’m just $200 off my target of $950.

If I was to pick the one thing I loved most, apart from being more aware of just how far women and girls in developing countries walk every day, it was discovering the cities I was in at a much closer level. Walking through new streets, discovering new suburbs, smelling Autumn up close, this side of the challenge was unexpected and delightful.

It has reminded me of just how beautiful this country can be.

 A view of Sydney Harbour from South Head, Watson’s Bay.

Day 5 - Walk in Her Shoes

Sponsor me as I Walk in her Shoes

For five days in a row I have walked 10,000 steps, and I have two days to go. These are the things I am discovering:

• Oh man, my life is too sedentary! 10,000 steps a day is hard when you have an office job. Lucky for me, my job involves a bit of moving around, but I still struggle to make my 10,000 steps without concerted effort.
• The streets are alive! With cool grafitti. With leaves turning every shade of orange. With people who are just waiting for the opportunity to smile back.
• My belly is full! I eat three meals a day, and I do my walking in comfy sneakers, and I am very aware of how lucky these two things are because many women and girls in developing countries are walking in bare feet, with empty bellies, and carrying heavy water bottles and bags with firewood in them. And I actually think about this a number of times during the day as I check and recheck my pedometer, eager for an extra thousand steps to magically appear.
• My friends and family are generous! I’ve already raised $585 - over half way to my target. Thank you! But there is still time for you to join the group of people with warm fuzzy donation feelings.

Sponsor me today - all money raised goes to CARE’s poverty-fighting projects working with women and girls in developing countries. And don’t forget, it’s tax deductible. Too hard an opportunity to refuse!

Day 1 - Walk in her shoes

Sponsor me as I walk 10,000 steps a day every day this week.

Alright, so it’s 4:30pm, I’ve been up since 7, and my pedometer reads an infuriatingly lousy 3080 steps. That’s despite my relatively active morning giving two presentations to Year 8 and Year 9 students. This 10,000 steps per day caper is going to be harder than I thought….and it’s 6 degrees outside.

Not that I’m complaining. I ate home-made guacamole and stir fry veggies for lunch. I treated myself to a hot chocolate this afternoon. I had vegemite on toast for breakfast. And I’m wearing new sneakers. My life, quite simply, is grand. Much much easier than for the people living in Borena Zone, Ethiopia, for example, where the women are spending hours collecting water.  

And this is what I’ll be thinking of while I’m walking the rest of my 7,000 steps in the midst of Melbourne’s winter this evening.

Please sponsor me - it’s amazing just how motivational it is to know I’ve already raised enough money to provide a whole village with a safe birthing kit. But I’m now aiming big! Really big! So please, help me fund a water system for an entire village - that’s just $950.

And stay tuned for tomorrow’s installment…

I’m Walking in Her Shoes!

Every day millions of girls are kept out of school because they’re too busy collecting water, food and firewood for their families. Millions of women spend the majority of their days doing the same, which severely limits their ability to earn an income, participate in leadership or governance activities, or learn new skills which could help them break free from poverty. And I know this stuff isn’t just spin - I’ve seen it. Too many times.

Which is why I’m joining in CARE’s fundraiser Walk In Her Shoes. From next Monday I will walk 10,000 steps per day for seven days while raising money for women and girls living in poverty. Given we’re heading into the grips of winter, the prospect of strolling Melbourne’s streets all gloved up is not as delightful as it could be…but walk I will!

I’m setting myself the very conservative fundraising target of $300, and I’d love if you could help me reach it.

Sponsor me, or even better, sign up yourself.

p.s. Don’t forget it’s tax time, and all donations over $2 are tax deductible.