Yesterday Blondie Boy, his Grandma and I walked 6 miles along the Ayrshire coast, a little bit more than the average 6km women and children walk to get water often from unprotected water sources, for Water Aid. You might have seen some of the photos I tweeted along the way and I hope you followed the tweets of the Coast Along Ambassadors, too (you can catch up by searching #CoastAlong on Twitter). We had a lovely afternoon (except for the part where Blondie Boy pissed all over me) and I'm so glad we were able to take part.
I've put together a short video of our day and uploaded some photos as well. You'll hear me say it in the video but I can't imagine having to walk that far to get water (and not necessarily clean water) and then lugging it back with your children.
1.4 million children die every year from diarrhoea caused by unclean water and poor sanitation - 4,000 child deaths a day or one child every 20 seconds. Yes you heard me right, diarrhoea kills more children every year than AIDS, malaria and measles combined. How is that possible in today's world? Diarrhoea should be something annoying but not something that kills you.
A hugethank you to everyone who has donated so far (including SnugBaby for Blondie Boy's Sling) and if you haven't yet please do consider donating; even £1 will make such a difference in helping get access to clean water and improving the lives of the 884 million people in the world do not have access to safe water.
I have what you may call a mild obsession with the ocean. If we are going on holiday I want to be near a beach. Maybe it's because I grew up in a land-locked state where it was a good 12 hours at least to the the nearest ocean, but for whatever reason I'm just a happier person by the seaside.
This Saturday Blondie Boy, his Grandma and I will be walking along the Ayrshire coast from Troon to Irvine. I'm one of seven Coast Along Ambassadors who will be walking to help raise awareness and funds for Water Aid.
Why am I walking for Water Aid? Water is essential for life (duh), but one in eight of the world’s population do not have access to it and almost 40% of the world’s population do not have adequate sanitation. WaterAid is a leading independent organisation which, with its partners, uses practical, sustainable solutions to enable the world’s poorest people to gain access to safe water, improved hygiene and sanitation.
So this Saturday I'll be tweeting and Instagramming my way along the Ayrshire coast. Blondie Boy's Grandma lives one block from part of the beach we will walk down but I haven't ever walked much further than our little stretch. I'm not exactly what you'd call an avid ambler but I'm looking forward to exploring the coast and thinking happy thoughts it doesn't rain. If women and children can walk an average of 6km to get water which is then most likely dirty and contaminated, I can walk 6 miles on a gorgeous stretch of sand.
I hope you'll follow all of us with the #CoastAlong hashtag on twitter and if you feel so inclined you can make a donation on my Just Giving page here.
