Waldorf Walks for Water

Posted on | May 20, 2010 | Leave a Comment |News

Darius Graeff, Ina, and Esu at the "Walk for Water"

For his Senior Project, Darius Graeff, Class of 2010, organized a “Walk for Water” on May 20, 2010, to support the Barka Foundation in raising money and awareness regarding water scarcity in the west African nation of Burkina Faso, the third poorest nation on earth.

Around 400 students from the Great Barrington Waldorf High School, Monument Mountain High School, and Monument Valley Middle School walked 6 km (about 3.5 miles), the average distance that a woman in Burkina Faso walks each day to obtain water. Most students carried a one gallon jug of water, although a few managed to carry 5 gallon buckets–the size that the African women carry, which weigh more than 40 pounds. Teachers from both schools, Ina and Esu of the Barka Foundation, Berkshire Hills Superintendent Peter Dillon, and Waldorf High School Faculty Chair walked with the students.

As the group crossed a stream, Ina and Esu, founders of the Barka Foundation, Americans who live in Maine but who travel to Burkina Faso to help dig wells and provide fresh water, taught the group an African blessing.

The Barka Foundation plans to make this day an annual event and hopes to engage every school in Berkshire County in the future.