World Water Day 2018

Today's post is from Water Ride creator, Emily Steele in recognition of World Water Day. Enjoy!

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What is the furthest you have ever walked in one day?

I remember visiting hilly San Francisco from flat Iowa years ago and from a day of exploration, we totaled an entire marathon. 

It took hours of navigating traffic, needing to stop for food and beverages, and hauling cameras, purses, and other traveling items around for 26+ miles.

As most of us do on vacation, I made no other plans to work or check in on my summer government class for college. 

This was a choice I made.

Our friends in Ghana and many other third world countries don't have this luxury. Parents and kids walk hundreds of miles every week for clean water out of necessity.

They have to miss school, forego work opportunities, so they can fill their jerry cans with water that will hopefully last them the next few days. 

World Water Day is an acknowledgment that water is critical... essential to life. When clean water is easily accessible, you quickly create more opportunities for education and employment. These are incredibly powerful opportunities to all individuals on this planet.

Over the last six years, we've chosen to create a bike ride in the Des Moines metro that raises money for clean water. Hundreds of cyclists have hopped on their bikes for 25-mile stretches on one day out of the year and because of their dollars we have built three water wells, built a school, and funded all the positions within the school so 150 students can be educated.

Twenty-five dollars doesn't seem like a lot, but when you multiply it a few hundred times, momentum quickly builds. If you're compelled to help create more clean water opportunities for people just like you around the world, drop a donation here or sign up for our ride on August 25, starting at Confluence Brewing Company.  

If you have any questions about our work or would like to sponsor the event, please email us at TheWaterRide@gmail.com

From Cycling to Education

As Nelson Mandela says, "Education is the most powerful weapon which you can use to change the world."

Education is an investment and is the most critical investment that we can make. Around the globe, over 61 million children are out of school and over half of these children do not have the opportunity to attend school due to harsh living conditions.

Education is the key to reducing poverty, preventing needless deaths and illnesses, and fostering peace within our communities and our world. Education is something so many of use take for granted; as it is something we are so accustomed to. Growing up in America, it is normal to attend primary school. It is normal for parents to sit down with their children and teach them how to read, write, and count. In villages like Tsipasi, education has not historically been available.

Until now.

We have the opportunity to give the gift of education to over 150 children in the Tsipasi community!

In order to complete the construction of The Move Project Academy, which will serve all primary grade levels, we need to raise $8,500. Our goal is to have the funds raised and construction completed by the end of the year so we can open TMP Academy's doors when the children return from Winter break.

The support we have received from the villagers of Tsipasi has been incredible. Nick (TMP co-founder) visited Tsipasi two weeks ago and during his visit the village presented a fundraising idea they could participate in. Watermelon is a huge crop for Tsipasi from June - August, Ghana's dry season, and Tsipasi is one of only a handful of communities that are able to grow this crop during this time. Because of this, the demand for watermelon increases dramatically and the market price obviously goes up. With this in mind, Tsipasi will be planting three acres of watermelon and donating back to TMP Academy all the proceeds from those three acres! As you can see, this community is all in!

In efforts to raise the remaining $8,500 here in the Unites States, we are hosting the fourth annual Water Ride. If you sign up today, you can use promo code SUMMERSWEETNESS and save $5 off the cost of registration. Promo code is good for today only and ends at midnight Central time.

The 25-mile bike ride is taking place on August 27th in Des Moines and begins at 1pm at Orlondo's. If you are unable to participate, please consider either making a donation to TMP Academy or sponsor someone who is riding in the event.

You can be the change! Help us end the cycle of poverty today by registering for The Water Ride.

A BIG THANK YOU goes out to our signature sponsor, Des Moines Water Works! 100% of the proceeds from this event will go to our education work in Tsipasi and we couldn't do that without their partnership!

Water Ride Event Re-Cap

This past Saturday, we held our third annual Water Ride. We are thrilled to hold this event every year and we thank everyone who participated to make the event a success!

A very special THANK YOU to our signature sponsor,  Des Moines Water Works. They have been a trusted partner for all three years and for that we are truly grateful!

It is because of partnerships like this that allow us to send 100% of the proceeds from this event, and all previous rides, directly to our ongoing efforts in Ghana. The Water Ride began as a ride to raise funds and awareness for the clean water crisis impacting the villages we have partnered with in Ghana.

These villages, Tsipasi and Korpehem, had never had access to clean water prior to 2014 when we were fortunate enough to install three wells in total.  As this event continues to grow, so do the opportunities to make a profound impact in the lives the the villagers we serve.

As we've mentioned before, we have begun constructing The Move Project Academy to educate nearly 200 children in Tsipasi and surrounding villages. Now that they have access to clean water the next need was education. Through events like The Water Ride, we have begun to transform the future of these villagers.

This year's event saw over 35 riders raise more than $1,180! To date, The Water Ride alone has raised over $22,500! What an impact! Check out our Instagram page (@The_Move_Project) to see photos from the event. We look forward to seeing you on an upcoming ride!

Indoor Water Ride - A Success!

The mission of The Move Project is to pursue holistic poverty alleviation one project at a time.

Our strategy is to create repeatable, sustainable projects that are realized through community engagement.

Our goal is to raise awareness and present opportunities for others to join the pursuit of poverty alleviation through a clear call to action.

To this end, we host annual bike rides for clean water, both indoor and outdoor. We have partnered with the Indianola YMCA to bring our signature event, The Water Ride, indoors. Our latest Indoor Water Ride, held on Saturday, April 11th was a huge success! We saw 77 people jump on a stationary bikes and pedal for clean water, raising just over $2,100!! Because of our generous sponsors, 100% of all event proceeds from The Water Ride (both indoor and outdoor) go directly to our ongoing projects in Ghana, West Africa.

Since the Water Ride's inception, we have had over 370 people participate and a total of $21,353.47 has been raised, and we've installed three wells to provide access to clean water for villages that have NEVER had access!

We couldn't be more thrilled about this progress and we have YOU to thank! We are so grateful for your participation over the years and we look forward to seeing you at an upcoming ride.

If you haven't ridden in a Water Ride event yet, don't worry. We have our annual outdoor event coming up on Saturday, May 16th and we would love to have you ride. Click the Register Now button below to purchase your ticket today.

If you aren't local to Des Moines or aren't available but still want to participate, you can give using the "Donation" ticket! 

Educational opportunities will be presented to inform riders on the need and  importance of clean water as well as the water projects we are currently working on and are planning for the future.