Today I walked 6km with my mom around Kiwanis Pond and through our town. It was one of those calm, sunny days where everything just feels… right. As we walked and talked, I started thinking about how much of who I am has been shaped by her. And I realized that this project isn’t just about clean water or reaching a fundraising goal. It’s about something even deeper: empowerment that travels across generations.
My mom has been working in Tanzania since 2016, helping women and girls become entrepreneurs and community leaders. When I was younger, I didn’t fully understand what that meant. I just knew she left for long trips and I missed her a lot. But now that I’m older, I see what she was really doing, lifting women up so they could lift up others.
Women like Mary, a Maasai woman my family hosted at our home, whose life purpose is to empower others even though she faces serious challenges herself. Or Pili, who doesn’t speak much English but still finds ways to lead and advocate for women’s rights. These women are living proof that when one woman rises, she brings others with her.
It’s easy to throw around the word “empowerment”, but what does it actually look like?
– It looks like a girl who finally gets to go to school because she doesn’t have to spend her day walking for water.
– It looks like a mother who can start a small business selling clean water to her community and earn enough to support her family.
– It looks like a grandmother who teaches her granddaughters that they can be leaders, learners, and changemakers.
Empowerment isn’t just about giving someone a job or an opportunity. It’s about giving them the tools, the confidence, and the freedom to change their story, and help others change theirs too.
Walking with my mom today reminded me that everything I’m doing is part of a bigger chain reaction. Her work inspired me. Now I’m trying to inspire others. And the funds we raise will go on to empower a woman in Tanzania who will inspire even more people in her community. That’s how change works, it moves from person to person, like a ripple in water.
When we support women, we’re not just helping one person. We’re helping whole communities. Because women, especially in places like Tanzania, are often the backbone of families, the caregivers, the providers, and the glue that holds everything together.
So today, I’m walking not just for clean water, but for connection, between generations, between women, and between communities across the world. I hope that this journey inspires even one person to believe that they can make a difference.
Whether it’s walking 6km, donating, learning, or just sharing these stories, you are part of this ripple.
Happiness Run for Clean Water and Gender Equality 
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