In the email blast we uploaded several photos of water (my partner Ina & I live in a one-room cabin that rests three feet off the shore of a pristine spring-fed lake in Maine and have almost 10,000 photos of water in its various forms).  We wrote of how water is understood within the indigenous paradigm, particularly the Dagara five-element cosmology of Burkina Faso. For the Dagara people, the Spirit of Water is about grief, forgiveness, reconciliation, healing and ultimately peace.  Within Dagara numerology, years that end in the number 1 or 6, correspond to the element of water.  That makes 2011 a “double” water year.

We linked the indigenous African wisdom with the ancient wisdom of Lao Tsu who said,

“THE SAGE’S TRANSFORMATION OF THE WORLD ARISES FROM SOLVING THE PROBLEM OF WATER.  IF WATER IS UNITED, THE HUMAN HEART WILL BE CONNECTED. IF WATER IS PURE AND CLEAN, THE HEART OF THE PEOPLE WILL READILY BE UNIFIED. THE PIVOT OF WORK IS WATER”.

Five hours later the newsletter was complete (click here to see the newsletter and gorgeous water photos) after which came the following slew of water-related activities:

• It had been snowing all day and the ice-covered lake now had enough snow to ski on it once again.  I got on the water for possibly one of the last cross-country ski outings of the winter because the ice on the lake is beginning to become rotten.  I’m going to miss these short intense blasts of exercise which help balance out long stretches in front of the computer. As I skied I offered my gratitude to the Spirit of Water on which I was skiing, and respect for my life being in its hands.
• I had worked up such a sweat that I took a bucket shower outside in the snow with hot water that we heat on the wood stove.  We have no running water so we bathe like we do when we’re in the bush of Burkina, with a bucket of water.  As I took my bath, World Water Day, water conservation, and our small water footprint were foremost in my mind.  After the bath, to submerge fully into water I jumped into the icy lake through a hole in the ice we keep open all winter, partly for this purpose.  To do this on World Water Day felt appropriate… and felt great.
• I went up the hill to our Ancestor shrine to say my daily prayers. Ina had gone to a spring a few hundred yards into the forest and I decided instead to find her.  The spring is a sacred place that never freezes over.  It too would be a perfect to visit on this day.  When I arrived Ina had already gone.  I performed a small ceremony and prayed for the healing of our earth’s waters… the following thoughts arose:

Water is our greatest healing agent.  Our bodies are 80% water. Dr. Masuro Emoto, the Japanese research scientist made famous in “What the Bleep?” has shown that water has the power and ability to reflect our intention.  If we look at the state of water today- oil plumes in the Gulf, dead baby dolphins washing up on shore, depletion of the ocean’s fish due to over-fishing, melting glaciers, privatization, it’s easy to see what water is reflecting- Koyaanisqatsi: life out of balance.

The gift of this water year of 2011 is the cleansing and purification required to navigate through the crucible of 2012, what indigenous prophecies have called the end of time.  To our understanding that doesn’t mean that the world will end in 2012.  It simply means that systems that have been revealed to be corrupt and unjust will fall, and society will undergo major transformations.  This process has already begun.  One need look no further than wikileaks, Tunisia, Egypt, Libya, Japan, Haiti, US Homeland Security, Wisconsin, food security, the housing market, etc. to see evidence of this.  We have created a world in which the richest 1 percent have more financial wealth than the bottom 95 percent combined and almost 1 billion people lack access to clean water, life’s most essential natural resource.  Water is raising our consciousness as we raise water consciousness on the planet.

• Ina arrived- followed my tracks in the snow.  We kiss by the spring because it was so gosh darn romantic.  There isn’t another human being around for miles.  We live way out in “unorganized territory”.  We walk home along the route that we have walked many times carrying water from the spring.  Like our family in Burkina Faso, we too walk for water.
• I finally get to the Ancestor shrine to complete this prayerful day.  Ina stepped onto the lake.  She began belting out the Native American water song, echoing among the neighboring hills and mountains.  I joined in, my voice resounding the sacred water song throughout the forest… a duet of honoring and thanking the Spirit of Water.

For the co-founders of an NGO working to procure clean drinking water and basic sanitation for the poorest of the poor in rural West Africa, every day is Water Day… however World Water Day is special because we get to share this focus with the rest of the world.  It’s a celebration of solidarity, a birthday for every water activist on the planet.

Each day I ask Spirit and the Ancestors to walk with me every step of the way… today was a day like that, a day in which that happened…

The BARKA Foundation held its 1st Peace, Water & Wisdom Walk in 2009– a 500-mile journey through 20-cities-in-20-days to raise awareness and funds for clean water for the people of Burkina Faso, West Africa. On Peace Day BARKA held a walk for water in Ouagadougou, Burkina’s capitol. BARKA now walks with schools and communities in North America to build cultural bridges which help secure the human right to clean water & sanitation for all. Join us!

When Marblehead’s water crisis occurred several weeks back, which threw some residents for a loop due to the scarcity of drinking water, visitors Ina and Esu Anahata were not necessarily fazed.

http://www.wickedlocal.com/marblehead/news/education/x289828600/-Peace-Water-Wisdom-walk-set-for-Sunday-in-Marblehead

Marblehead — On Thursday, March 18, Ina and Esu Anahata, co-founders of the Barka Foundation, visited the Marblehead Community Charter Public School and spoke to students and faculty about their work in Africa and, in particular, about the Clean Water Initiative.

http://www.casefoundation.org/blog/rethinking-hydro-philanthropy

We wrote a letter to Mr. Breslin informing him of our water project, asking for his assistance at this early stage of our venture, seeking his guidance and helping us ensure that as we approach small villages in Burkina with water projects, that first and foremost, we do no harm. Clearly, the fact that we’re in a long-term relationship with La Petite Village is already separating us from NGOs which parachute in, drill a well, and then leave… little follow up, little maintenance training, that’s not the new paradigm. Still, we’re seeking long-term strategic partnerships, and Water for People would be a great one for BARKA.

Walk for Water Press Coverage

April 23, 2009

“WALK FOR WATER” COMING TO A TOWN NEAR YOU

Local nonprofit and renowned prayer walker to raise funds for Clean Water in Africa

“We went to the women out in the bush and small villages and asked them what their greatest need was. They all said water. We took our directive from those women. Women in Burkina walk for miles every day to get water. When a village has a well women can sustain micro-businesses, girls can attend school, irrigation leads to increased crop yields, and disease declines. It is the single most important thing. Clean water is a human birthright and it’s our collective responsibility to ensure everyone has it.”

–Ina & Esu Anahata, Co-Founders, The BARKA Foundation

The BARKA Foundation and Global Walk announce the inaugural Peace, Water & Wisdom Walk to raise funds and awareness for the work of The BARKA Foundation. BARKA is a US and Burkina Faso-based NGO addressing the centrality of water’s role in eradicating extreme poverty in Burkina Faso, West Africa, a country ranked 173^rd out of 179 countries on the Human Development Index (UNDP 2008). The Walk will be guided by Danny Garcia, the “Walking Man” who has walked for children and world peace since Dec 1996. Garcia has walked over 25,000 miles (more than the circumference of the earth), on five continents and has met with and has been honored by kings, presidents, dignitaries, men, women and children all over the world. Garcia said, “Water is priceless. When Ina & Esu asked for my help in their vision to build wells throughout Burkina Faso I felt compelled to step out on faith with the absolute certainty that God would bless this venture”.

Itinerary of Walk (subject to change):

Walk begins at 10am at the Burkina Faso Permanent Mission to the United Nations 866 UN Plaza, NYC

May 11th: Leave New York City arrive in Westchester, NY (village to be determined)

May 12th: Arrive in Pleasantville, NY

May 13th: From Pleasantville to Danbury, CT

May 14th: From Danbury, CT to Kent, CT

May 15th: From Kent, CT to Great Barrington, MA

May 16th: From Great Barrington, MA to Pittsfield, MA

May 17th: From Pittsfield, MA to Williamstown, MA

May 18th: From Williamstown, MA to Shelburne Falls, MA

May 19th: From Shelburne Falls, MA to Brattleboro, VT

May 20th: From Brattleboro, VT to Keene, NH

May 21st: From Keene, NH to Concord, NH

May 22nd: From Concord, NH to Franklin, NH

May 23rd: From Franklin, NH to Wolfboro, NH

May 24th: From Wolfboro, NH to Rochester, NH

May 25th: From Rochester, NH to Portland, ME

May 26th: From Portland, ME to Auburn, ME

May 27th: From Auburn, ME to Augusta, ME

May 28th: From Augusta, ME to Waterville, ME

May 29th: From Waterville, ME to Newport, ME

May 30th: From Newport, ME to Bangor, ME; Welcoming reception at the Unitarian Universalist Society of Bangor, 120 Park St.

Check websites above for a full itinerary and up-to-date route information.

“Join us in prayer, join us on foot, join us with a dollar, join us with 5 dollars, join us with whatever would move your heart, even sharing this request with friends… help us bring bubbling springs from the depths of the earth to give a thirsty land water for life.” –Danny Garcia

The BARKA Foundation and Global Walk, two non-profits working in concert to promote a culture of peace, are asking for donations to increase accessibility to clean water for the rural population of Burkina Faso, a landlocked nation of 14 million that is among the poorest in the world. Donations can be made online at www.barkafoundation.org, through a Peace, Water & Wisdom Walk “Cause” on facebook.com (Profile : Esu Ina), made out and mailed to The BARKA Foundation, P.O. Box 69, Housatonic, MA 01236 or delivered personally on the Walk.

Another goal of the Walk is to inspire participation from local schools, youth groups, women’s associations, senior centers, health practitioners, businesses, faith-based organizations, civic and political leaders to join the walk and to get involved with BARKA’s humanitarian efforts both locally and internationally.

Peace, Water & Wisdom Walk organizers are seeking visits with schools along the route between NY and ME and will make available curriculum-based studies about water and Africa pioneered by educators working with The BARKA Foundation on service-learning initiatives in the Berkshires. Students at host schools will be asked to donate $1 each as a concrete way to participate and make a difference.

Students at Parsons The New School For Design, one of the world’s top art & design schools based in NYC have been selected to design magnetic artwork that will be applied to “Bertha” the Dodge Grand Caravan that will trail walkers at a pace of approximately 5 miles/hour.

Walk organizers are looking for nightly venues to

• Meet with community leaders, Mayors, officials, and other interested parties
• Hold press conferences with local newspapers, magazines, radio, cable access television, etc.
• Screen excerpts of “BARKA! BURKINA”, a documentary film-in-progress about the connections BARKA is creating between development in Burkina Faso and education in the US

The Walk will be documented by filmmakers from several different states. Footage will be compiled and edited for a short documentary film.

All donors to The Peace, Water & Wisdom Walk will be posted on the BARKA Foundation website. Please contact Walk organizers for information regarding sponsorship opportunities.

About Danny Garcia and Global Walk

Garcia is 64 years old, a native of New York’s Spanish Harlem, a former Marine, former law enforcement officer, and an ordained minister. The aims and purposes of all Danny’s walks throughout the world are the same: to facilitate, promote, and support the needs of children and their families, which include engaging in humanitarian aid to victims of fire, poverty, flood, earthquake, or war. On July 4th, 2009, a new chapter will begin with a Peace Walk across the United States, South America and Asia. For more information, visit www.globalwalk.cc.

About The BARKA Foundation

The BARKA Foundation is a 501(c)3 charitable organization that is working with the support of UN agencies, Burkina Faso and US governments, and indigenous villages to eradicate extreme poverty, empower women, foster education and co-create a culture of peace and sustainability for our global village. On Peace Day 2008, The BARKA Foundation unveiled the BARKA Burkina Consortium, an international collective of organizations working collaboratively toward an innovative model to achieve the UN’s Millennium Development Goals (MDGs). BARKA and Consortium partner ZZYX Entertainment/Global Harmony are co-producing the Peace, Water & Wisdom Concert and Festival in Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso, September 19-21, 2009, to raise funds for the Consortium’s “Clean Water for All” initiative designed to ensure a well in every village in Burkina Faso by 2015. BARKA is a member of the Culture of Peace Initiative, a project of Pathways To Peace.

PRESS CONTACTS:

Ina & Esu

The BARKA Foundation

P.O. Box 69

Housatonic, MA 01236

413-446-7466

Email: InaAndEsu@BARKAfoundation.org

http://www.barkafoundation.org

Facebook Profile: http://www.facebook.com/profile.php?id=1576717404&ref=profile

Facebook Cause: http://apps.facebook.com/causes/274528/59097979?m=6d54c0aa

]]> http://barkafoundation.org/walk-for-water-press-release/feed/ 1 http://barkafoundation.org/school-project-takes-abbott-kids-into-deep-water/?utm_source=rss&utm_medium=rss&utm_campaign=school-project-takes-abbott-kids-into-deep-water http://barkafoundation.org/school-project-takes-abbott-kids-into-deep-water/#comments Tue, 31 Mar 2009 21:36:13 +0000 ali /?p=744

School Project Takes Abbott Kids into Deep Water