By Mark Dreger

Despite the snow and cold, men and women came out to participate in Kelowna乌鸦传媒檚 annual Walk In Her Shoes event in Mission Creek Park to celebrate International Women乌鸦传媒檚 Day on Sunday.

乌鸦传媒淲hat we乌鸦传媒檙e doing here today is we乌鸦传媒檙e walking 10,000 steps and it乌鸦传媒檚 to walk in solidarity with women and girls around the world乌鸦传媒攎ostly in developing countries乌鸦传媒攖hat have to walk 10,000 steps乌鸦传媒攐r 6 to 7 kilometres乌鸦传媒攁 day just to get the basics, so firewood, water, and food,乌鸦传媒� said Wendy Wright, the Volunteer Event Chair for Walk In Her Shoes. 乌鸦传媒淲alk In Her Shoes is doing events not just here in Kelowna, but (Sunday) they were also in Vancouver and Calgary, and later on in the week they乌鸦传媒檙e in Edmonton.乌鸦传媒�

Participants also had the opportunity to wear weighted baskets on their heads to get a taste of what it feels like to carry water during the long walk.

乌鸦传媒淥ne of the things that we want to do is promote awareness,乌鸦传媒� Wright said. 乌鸦传媒淚t乌鸦传媒檚 not just about fundraising乌鸦传媒擨 mean obviously we want to be raising funds to help these women and girls乌鸦传媒攂ut it乌鸦传媒檚 not just about that. It乌鸦传媒檚 raising awareness of what continues to occur in our global community, and if we can help and raise one woman out of poverty it乌鸦传媒檚 said that she takes four other people with her.乌鸦传媒�

Renye Lebel and Paul Maarschalk, who both took a trip to a mud hut village in Zimbabwe, got a firsthand look at the troubles families go through carrying water long distances to and from their homes.

乌鸦传媒淸Young women] were sitting beside this table, this plastic table with all these huge buckets, like five gallon drum buckets,乌鸦传媒� Lebel recollected, 乌鸦传媒渁nd I asked the woman, 乌鸦传媒榳hat are all those buckets for?乌鸦传媒� and she said 乌鸦传媒榳ell that乌鸦传媒檚 where we get our water. That乌鸦传媒檚 what us women do: We put it on our heads and go to the well and bring back the water.乌鸦传媒� So I say, 乌鸦传媒榶ou got to haul all these heavy, big jugs? How far is it?乌鸦传媒� And 6 kilometres they had to walk. And that乌鸦传媒檚 just to get your water. They were obviously very clean and conscientious and I just thought, 乌鸦传媒榳ow, that乌鸦传媒檚 going to take a lot of water.乌鸦传媒� So it乌鸦传媒檚 just stuck with me.乌鸦传媒�

According to the United Nations, Zimbabwe ranks 154th in the world on the Human Development Index with Canada ranked 10th.

乌鸦传媒淚 asked her why they didn乌鸦传媒檛 have running water,乌鸦传媒� Maarschalk said, 乌鸦传媒渂ecause there is a pipe that runs not very far from them that they would be able to connect up to, but I think it was going to cost them something like $12,000 to get connected up to the water. That乌鸦传媒檚 a lot of money there.乌鸦传媒�

Walk In Her Shoes is sponsored by Cooperative for Assistance and Relief Everywhere (CARE) that operates in 94 countries on six continents fighting global poverty to improve basic health and education, and increase access to clean water to name a few. Funds raised from Walk In Her Shoes will be directed to support CARE乌鸦传媒檚 efforts to improve the nutrition of women and children in Southern Africa.

乌鸦传媒淲ouldn乌鸦传媒檛 it be a beautiful thing if everyone in this world had access to clean running water that they didn乌鸦传媒檛 have to spend half their day getting?乌鸦传媒� Lebel said. 乌鸦传媒淭o me it乌鸦传媒檚 just a basic entitlement that we all need to survive. You乌鸦传媒檇 like to see these families be able to live an easier life, right?乌鸦传媒�

According to the World Bank, Zimbabwe乌鸦传媒檚 GDP per capita was $590US in 2008, but rose to $908US in 2016.

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