Harlem Globetrotters walk in Kelowna 6K for Water
About 300 people took to the path along Okanagan Lake Saturday morning for the Kelowna 6K for Water event.
The global event that included Kelowna saw more than 48,000 participants around the world. So far this year the event has raised close to $470,000 globally, nearly double the amount raised last year.
Funds raised by the Kelowna 6K for Water went toward providing clean water in the West African country of Mali.
Rather than a 5K or 10K event, the sixkilometre distance represents the average distance women and children in developing countries have to walk each day to find water that is often contaminated.
Participants could get a further glimpse into the lives of women and children who lug water every day with the optional jerry can challenge.
At the five-kilometer mark participants could choose to pick up and carry a jerry can of water for the last kilometer to get a sense of how arduous it is to lug water.
The jerry cans at the event were halffull, weighing about 20 pounds.
Filled, the cans weigh about 40 pounds, which women and children would carry up three kilometres from the water source to their hut. This is the second year for the 6K for Water in Kelowna and the first time the event has been supported by members of the Harlem Globetrotters.
Globetrotters Jonté “Too Tall” Hall, Briana” Hoops” Green and Corey “Thunder” Law enthusiastically warmed up the participants and cheered on the participants on the course.
After the 6K was done, they entertained the crowd with feats of basketball.
According to Michael Messenger, president and CEO of World Vision Canada, about two billion people around the world don’t have access to clean water.
In World Vision’s work in poor communities around the world, Messenger said the basic thing kids need to survive and thrive is often clean water.
“At World Vision we say that water is life and that's really true because it provides the basis for everything else that we do, whether it's clean water to drink, for cooking, for washing, for sanitation,” said Messenger.
Messenger said around the world, somebody receives clean water every 10 seconds thanks to World Vision’s work.
Jett McLennan, 12, is a basketball fan and wanted to see the Harlem Globetrotters for his birthday.
The McLennan family sponsored a child and signed up for the pre-event breakfast at the Delta with the Globetrotters where Jett got to meet the Globetrotters. “They’re fun,” he said Jett’s favourite was Thunder because he showed Jett how to spin a ball on his finger. Knowing he was helping a child access clean water made him feel good.
“Some people have to walk really far just to have clean water,” Jett said. “It shouldn’t be like that.”
Sisters Ginny Becker and Candus Hunter returned to the 6K for a second year with their children and a close friend.
“It’s good to get the kids out and teach them a little bit about global consciousness,” said Becker.
Lugging the jerry can was an eye-opener for them.
“Last year we had to keep sharing it,” said Becker. “Our kids could barely lift them.
Becker said it was hard to imagine children the same ages as hers carrying a jerry can six kilometres.