Team World Vision Madison

Why I Run
by: Colin Grove--Local Runner

I began sponsoring a child from Rwanda 10 years ago through World Vision. Traveling to Africa to meet Marc changed me.

While in Rwanda, I visited what was once a school, but is now a Rwandan genocide memorial. In a place thought to be a safe haven, tens of thousands of men, women, and children instead found fear and death. This experience wrecked me.

A few days later, my fellow travelers and I met our sponsored children. Boys and girls, toddlers, middle-schoolers, and teenagers, were united with us in the peaceful refuge of the World Vision compound, a place that was full of life. This experienced restored me.

During our time together, Marc shared with me his dream of becoming a school principal. I also learned that the time he spends helping his family by fetching water interferes with his studies.

Lack of access to clean drinking water affects the health of hundreds of millions of people in the world. The deaths of more than half of children under age 5 years old in the developing world are related to illnesses caused by unsafe water and poor hygiene.

While in Africa, I also learned about Team World Vision, a division of World Vision that helps people take on endurance events while tackling the root causes of poverty by raising funds for clean water projects.

I run… because I want to do more to help kids like Marc.

Team World Vision is running the Madison Marathon and Half Marathon on November 8^th. The struggle for clean water for many needy people in Africa can end at a finish line in Madison.

Why do you run?

If you want to run for kids like Marc too, join Team World Vision Madison at www.teamworldvision.org/madison. If you want to start a team, contact Greg Schlough at gschloug@WorldVision.org.

World Vision is the largest, non-profit provider of clean water in the developing world. World Vision’s water projects are comprehensive, sustainable, and complex. These projects engage local communities, churches, and governments. Local staff and engineers choose from different types of water points depending on the geography and the needs of a community. Innovative projects like wells, solar-powered pumps, pipelines, dams, and rain catchments are implemented for human consumption, farm irrigation, livestock nourishment, and more. Construction and maintenance are completed by indigenous people. Beyond water sources, World Vision’s water projects also focus on improved sanitation and hygiene solutions; this includes building latrines and organizing communities to implement good habits like hand washing or repairing wells.

Fleet Feet Sports Madison and Sun Prairie are a generous partner of Team World Vision Madison.