Pledging our support for Water!Walk 2017
One in nine people globally do not have access to safe drinking water and one in three lack access to a working toilet. Those are the shocking statistics of the reality that persists despite all our advances in technology. That is why the work of companies that raise awareness of the problem, like Viva con Agua, is so important.
Viva con Agua (VcA) is a Hamburg based NGO founded by Benjamin Adrion, a former football player for FC St. Pauli. It is a network of people and organisations committed to establishing access to clean drinking water and basic sanitation for all humans. The company is looking for investments to kick-start multiple projects in Uganda to help improve the living conditions of thousands of people by: Improving waste disposal, delivering clean drinking water to rural communities, and creating solutions to improve sanitation. To raise awareness and gather funding for these projects, VcA is organising Water!Walk 2017.
Water!Walk 2017: About the event
Water!Walk 2017 is the first independent VcA event in Africa and marks the official launch of the network in Uganda. It involves approximately 30 international runners starting from Kigali (Rwanda), and walking to Kampala (Uganda). The walk is over 500km in length, started on November 2nd and will continue all the way to December 3rd.
Dropbox has helped coordinate the huge project, and will be used by organisers and participants to guarantee the event is given the exposure it deserves. The runners will be equipped with access to shared folders on Viva con Agua’s Dropbox Business account, so they can share photos and videos from the journey in real-time, with local and international partners. Dropbox Paper is being used to connect the participants, organisers and partners with live updates, posts, information, pictures and other media, so that everything is available for use on social channels.
Water!Walk 2017: Raising awareness for the cause
For Viva con Agua this is not only a walk, it’s an opportunity to reach the people and communicate the growing adverse effects of climate change on the environment and the importance of water. “I tip my hat to all those participating in the walk for that is not an easy journey to make. But, the purpose of the journey is noble and this alone, I am sure, will strengthen the team to go through with it,” says Adam Laquche, one of the founders of Viva con Agua Uganda.
“Hopefully, this will be the first step towards redefining the understanding of charity organisations in Uganda as merely a source of receiving handouts,” says Francis Mugoya, cofounder of Viva con Agua. “We instead want to awake the society, make them realise their potential and direct their efforts towards realising positive social change while doing something they enjoy doing already.”
The event will also be used as a vehicle to showcase local talent and will be accompanied by a number of cultural events; concerts with local musicians and the introduction of a new gallery. “We want to tap into the energy of all Ugandan art lovers, whether young or old, to ‘create’ water through art,” adds Papa Shabani, photographer, artist and cofounder of Viva con Agua Uganda.
We’ve also partnered with one of our Dropbox for Good customers, Enda Athletic, to create some special shoes for volunteers taking on the journey. Some of you may have read our previous post on how Enda, a Kenyan based company, is using the cloud to manufacture running shoes in Africa. It feels good to know that we are supporting such major initiatives and walking step by step beside VCA and Enda Athletic to drive real positive change.
The donation target for Water!Walk 2017 is 30,000 euros, you can add a donation and can follow the walk on the Facebook page here. Or to find out more about the Dropbox for Good initiative, click here.
(IMAGE CREDIT: Papa Shabani for Viva con Agua)
