Every day, more than 800 children under the age of 5 die from diarrhea caused by contaminated water, poor sanitation and improper hygiene.
Lawton’s Calvary Baptist Church wants to do something about it, and once again joins a large NGO in its annual Global 6K for Water at 9 a.m. Saturday.
World Vision is the largest non governmental provider of clean water in the developing world, and its team in Lawton is attempting to raise $2,000 this Saturday to help bring clean water and hygiene to 40 children.
“I lived in Ghana, West Africa, for two years and saw how hard daily life is for the women and children,” Nicole Kirby, team leader of her church group, said. “As a mother of four daughters, it would be terrible to send my girls to go fetch water and to bring back water that is dirty.”
The participants will start their walk or run at 715 SW H, right at Calvary Baptist Church, and then walk toward Southwest 3rd Street, south to Southwest Summit Avenue, west to Southwest 8th Street and back to Southwest H Avenue, and then go around again. In total, they will walk or run more than 3.7 miles, which is equivalent to 6 kilometers. They are joined by two members walking with them while on vacation in Texas. Another church group, led by a co-leader of Kirby from the previous year, is walking in Elmer Thomas Park.
Kirby said that World Vision averaged out that $50 gives one person clean water for life by drilling bore holes, getting hand washing stations in homes and schools as well as building latrines.
