FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE

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