Would you bike a hundred miles for a glass of water? [Updated with POLL]

These folks will - and they won't even get to drink it!

They're going even farther - they are biking a thousand miles, to raise money for clean water in Swaziland and the Sudan. If you've heard of RAGBRAI (the Register's annual great bike ride across Iowa), these folks are going one better - they are biking around Iowa!

More over the fold -

This cheery fellow is Mitch Smith, who started this off -

Here's his description of the Waters of Hope, and why water matters -

A little bit about us...

Clean water is an absolute human right that more than a billion persons live without each and every day. Shockingly, 4,400 children under the age of 5 die each day from dirty drinking water that is infested with water-borne diseases (United Nations). "The lack of access to safe drinking water is the primary cause of disease and poverty in the world" according to GlobalWater.org.

The benefits of clean water are too numerous to list. In short clean water will work towards the three of Millennium Development Goals: lower the child mortality rate, improve maternal health, and help stop the spread of disease. Medically, clean water can do more than vaccinations, antibiotics, and immunizations combined. Think about it. What good is an antibiotic, if a person repeatedly ingests the internal parasites found in their water supply?

Churches, especially US churches, in companion relationships with communities in developing countries are in a unique position to provide clean water to those who need it. Through one on one grass roots projects, like Waters of Hope, our communities can provide clean water to our brothers and sisters in developing countries. Waters of Hope is your chance to help!

Unless you live close to Iowa, it would be hard to join these sturdy folks on the road (and harder still to do 90 to 112 miles a day!) but you can still help provide fresh water by donating, and no pulled muscles!

The money will go to ingenious chlorinators that use a small amount of electricity to generate chlorine locally so that villages can purify water without being connected to a grid. The chlorinators will be going to Swaziland and the Sudan.

Do check out their web site - lovely pictures of Iowa, Swaziland and the Sudan. Apparently the bishop's blessing the first day was good for a tailwind!