Red Bank CROP Hunger Walk: We Observe World Water Day

Today is WORLD WATER DAY. For all of us here in Monmouth County water is a necessity that we often take for granted. We walk a few feet in the morning to get to the bathroom to use a toilet, brush our teeth, and shower to get ready for our day. Another short walk to the kitchen and we easily put on a fresh pot of coffee or to make a cup of tea. We carry around small water bottles. Many in our world balance gallons of water on top of their heads or strapped to their backs daily. Today we'd like everyone to take a moment out of their day to think of the millions of people around the world that don't have our water luxuries. Many women and children are responsible for walking miles everyday to get water for the basic needs of drinking, cooking, hygiene or farming.

Click to read an article on the Church World Service website . In the article Catarina de Albuerque a United Nations Independent Expert on the right to water and sanitation talks says, "If people have a faucet and it turns on and water comes through, even if bad, it counts as MDG (Millenium Development Goals) progress, she said. "Water quality is simply not being monitored globally." She said a consistent approach is needed to ensure that all of the five core elements of the human right to water are being realized, as outlined by the UN: sufficient, safe, acceptable, physically accessible and affordable water.

This past year during our 30th CROP hunger walk, the Brookdale Community College softball team walked all 5 miles carrying 8 lb gallon jugs of water in solidarity with communities around the world that have to do that everyday. We will be meeting in early May to begin plans for this year's CROP walk. One of our walk 30th walk activities was the Lug A Jug Brigade.The Brookdale softball team seems to have a ritual of "winning" and we're hoping maybe they'll make our CROP walk a "tradition". They can lead the way for other groups to pick up the Lug A Jug Brigade. We'd like to hear from another school, church or community group that would be interested in doing the Lug A Jug Brigade on Sunday Oct. 16, 2011. Send an email to redbankcropwalk@gmail.com if you have an interested group.