MADISON, Wis. — Water scarcity is something that affects 400 million people in Africa. And on average, women and children have to travel 3.7 miles for water.
Chris Jimieson, founder of Stride for Africa, went on a trip to Ethiopia to adopt his son in 2009 and while Jimieson was there, he saw something that would change his life forever.
“I saw a boy that was about ten years old, that was filling up [a water jug] from a roadside pot hole,” said Jimieson. “I remember looking at that and my head just kind of spun around as we were driving by on the bus. And I was just thinking about, man, he’s getting his water for his family from a roadside pothole. “
Jimieson said he believes everyone deserves access to clean water. During his time in Africa, he and his team funded projects that built two wells.
But he said he didn’t feel like that would be enough.
“We had a really simple goal of trying to raise enough to put a water well in from this event each year, but so far we have been able to put in 38 wells across different parts of East and West Africa.”
Stride for Africa has only been around for 13 years, which means Jimieson and his team almost tripled their goal of one water well a year.
“Really what that is doing locally is providing an access point for people to be global citizens and that’s ultimately what we want to try and build more of here,” said Jimieson.
Stride for Africa only takes place once a year, but to find out more about the nonprofit organization or to figure out how you can get involved, you can visit their website.