Do you want to draw other people’s attention to some urgent problems? Do you want the people living in your town/city to pay heed to the needs of the populations of Syria, South Sudan or other countries? Hold a charity event in your town/city!

Organise a positive campaign to help the people living in your town/city to notice problems which they have failed to see before. Act as a medium of communication and share your knowledge in an interesting way! The possibilities are countless!

 

SEE HOW YOU CAN ORGANISE MARCHES FOR WATER!

Similar happenings have been organised in Warsaw and Cracow. In the Polish capital, for two hours 20 people travelled between the Metro Centrum and the Metro Wilanowska stations, carrying on their heads blue water canisters. In this way, they made other passengers realise that the distance of 6 km they covered was more or less the same as the distance the people of the Global South travel daily to bring water. Every single time, they walk this distance carrying 20-litre canisters, whereas their families’ daily needs are five times bigger. In front of the Metro entrance, we put up an installation symbolising a well, with a handful of people standing in a queue for water all the time. If you want to include such a well in your scenario, make sure that the people carrying canisters and those queuing up for water take turns. It takes nine minutes to cover the distance of six kilometres by metro. How long does it take to get to the nearest water take-off point in the countries of Africa and Asia? The aim of the campaign is to make people realise how vast distances the people of the Global South need to walk every day to find a well and bring water for their families.

Possible scenario:

1. Participants

In Warsaw, we invited students from one of the local secondary schools to join us. You can just as well organise an event with a group of two to four people. Invite your friends and family members to join, or inform as many people as possible about the planned event so that each of them gets a chance to participate in it.

2. Indispensable accessories

From our partner company we got blue 20-litre water canisters – exactly the same as those used by the people of the Global South.

3. Choose the duration of the event, the means of transport and plan the route

The event does not have to last all day long. Ours lasted only two hours. In Warsaw we travelled by metro and in Cracow the participants chose the tram. You can just as well choose bikes or simply organise a march through the town/city. Together with the other participants plan the route in such a way that it symbolises 6 km, i.e. more or less the distance the people of the Global South travel daily to bring water.

4. Extra promotion

To make sure that as many people as possible could learn about our event, we sent a press release to journalists. If you want, you can also inform the local media. To learn how to write a press release, click „Przewodnik dla Aktywistów i Aktywistek” (A Guide for Activists, page 58).

5. Summing-up

Share your experiences with us. Send us some photos and write a report so that we, too, can enjoy your success and make our offer more attractive to activists.

COVERAGE OF OUR EVENTS:

• Marches for Water in Warsaw – Watch the video
• Marches for Water in Cracow – See the photos: On the occasion of the World Water Day, activists from Cracow organised a happening called “Water Tram – Marches for Water”.
• On the occasion of the World Water Day, pupils from Lower Secondary School No. 2 in Toruń painted a mural – See the photos.