A blog from Willow Park First Year students- Rory Martin, Robert Murphy, Harry Cullen, Robert Nolan, James Lee Oscar Murray, Joshua Baker, Will Boyle, Neil McNally, Mark Morrissey, Shane Murray, Adam Dixon, John-Francis Campbell, Robert Gleeson, Thomas Kearns

On Monday March 16th our whole school took part in our first ‘Willow Walks for Water’ as part of the ‘World Walks for Water and Sanitation’ 2015.  Wearing Aidlink t-shirts and carrying on average 2 litres of water in our backpacks 128 students and staff walked a three hour 8.9 km loop walk around the upper lake region in Glendalough and 77 members of our school community who were on a Latin trip walked around the Ancient City of Rome. The scenery in both Glendalough and Rome was breathtaking, although those of us in Glendalough enjoyed better weather!

Before we left the school for Glendalough we skyped our friends and colleagues in Rome. The walk in Glendalough began at 10:15 and finished at 1:25. We started on an uphill ascent through a forest and continued until we reached the highest point and stood on a sheer cliff looking down over the two lakes and the Miners’ Village. From there we descended down the mountain. The route to the Miners’ Village was windy and steep and it was very hard with the added weight of water. At the end of the walk we poured the water we had carried with us into the lake and had a short prayer service which was designed and organised by a group of our students.

We took part in this walk to express solidarity with, and to raise awareness of, people in developing countries who need to walk long distances for water. The walk helped us to get a glimpse of what life is like for many young African girls who make this journey (and longer journeys) in intense heat and sometimes dangerous circumstances on a daily basis in order to access water (that is not always clean). The walk also made us more aware of how precious water is and of the need to conserve it.

A big thank you from everyone at Aidlink to the staff and students of Willow Park First Year!