End in sight: Travels in Africa helps Team World Vision runners see results of their strides for clean water

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The older woman carried a lot on her back. Clothes. Sticks. Water.

Seeing her, Erin Mayes knew the woman was one of many people in Africa who know what it’s like to tote water long distances just to have some for everyday tasks.

Within 24 hours, however, “We come to a hotel and they offer us a discount for a spa,” Mayes said. The contrast was mind-boggling to her.

Mayes and her husband, Josh Mayes, traveled this summer to Africa. There they got a glimpse into the clean water programs they’ve helped raise money for through Team World Vision. It’s a program of the Christian relief organization World Vision.

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Team members sign up for marathons or half marathons and gather sponsorship pledges to support programs that help provide clean water through pumps, pipelines and other methods. Then they don orange jerseys and run at the event. The Mayeses are looking ahead to the Indianapolis Monumental Marathon and half-marathon in November.

They were among some Team World Vision runners who were invited this summer to Africa, where they could see examples of the benefits of clean water in communities. The group cheered on about 30 athletes from the United States who were competing in the Comrades, a 56-mile ultramarathon in South Africa. Then the travelers split into smaller groups to visit different countries and see World Vision water programs in action.

The Mayeses were among about a dozen who went to Kenya. They met a woman whose job is to visit schools and teach children hand washing and other general hygiene concepts, ideas they are meant to share with their families.

They met a regional director who told of walking three times a day for dirty water as a child, rising early to draw the first batch before animals got to it and stirred up the dirt even more.

They met school children who used Purifier of Water packets in a process of stirring, letting sediment settle and filtering. It’s a 30-minute process to produce about 10 gallons of clean water.

“That water was clean and safe to drink,” Erin Mayes said. “They were so proud of it.”

For several years the Mayeses had run with Team World Vision groups elsewhere. Last year they launched a team in their own congregation, Brookville Road Community Church in New Palestine, to train for the Indy Monumental marathon and half-marathon.

This year they’re at the Pennsy Trail again for weekly training runs leading up to the Monumental in November. Images of clean water dollars in action are fresh in their minds, and a larger group of runners surrounds them — including about 80 from Wilkinson Church of Christ.

Proponents of clean water programs say water quality is about so much more than “ew” factor. They point to clean water as a way to improve the health of children and whole communities, making people less likely to suffer waterborne disease and nursing mothers better able to supply breast milk to their babies.

They also point to factors that stretch beyond public health: Less time spent fetching water means a lower chance of being preyed upon by human traffickers. Less time spent fetching water also means children have more hours and energy to spend on their education.

“It’s changing lives, because by giving a village clean water, it allows the kids to go to school instead of getting water,” said the Rev. Ryan McCarty, senior minister of Wilkinson Church of Christ.

That message resonated with him earlier this year when he learned more about Team World Vision. The church has been in a series, “Know Love, No Fear,” and the race seemed like a good way to put that concept into action.

“Running a marathon is a scary thing, but the love for others … overcomes your fear in doing something like a marathon,” he said.

McCarty said a marathon (or half marathon) was a good fit with his challenges to the Wilkinson congregation to become more disciplined in prayer and to do something out of their comfort zone.

“The challenge was to use that time when you’re out running … that’s your prayer time,” McCarty said. “You’ll grow in your prayer life; you’ll grow in your physical life as well.”

McCarty is training for the race himself. He and the Mayeses each speak of enjoying the mutual encouragement the runners from the two churches find in each other. McCarty leads a devotion at the Saturday training runs.

Esther Michael said they’re related to mentions of water in the Bible and have been helpful.

The Greenfield-Central High School senior decided to run the half marathon, and her parents and her brother later joined the team as well.

Like the Mayeses, she has seen clean water’s impact firsthand. She traveled to Uganda in 2017 on a mission trip with Brookville Road’s youth, and the group helped fix a well during the trip.

At the halfway point in training, she’s been running about 3 to 5 miles a day. If she misses a couple of days of training, thinking about lives changed by clean water helps her get back to it.

“My miles are miles that other people don’t have to run and don’t have to walk” to get water, she said.

“It’s not about me, and it’s not about my time. That’s the thing that takes the pressure off. It’s OK. I’ll keep putting in the training.”

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Team World Vision runners say $50 can provide a child with clean water for life. To donate toward a local runner’s goal, visit teamworldvision.org, click on “donate” and search by church name or the runner’s name.

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