Renny Chivunga

Sydney Harbour to Global Impact: Walking for Water with WaterAid — Day 4

Today marks Day 4 of WaterAid’s Walk for Water 2025.

Across Australia, hundreds are stepping up—walking, running, and riding—to help WaterAid bring safe water, sanitation, and hygiene to communities in developing countries who urgently need it.

Friends, colleagues, and local businesses are partnering with these teams, actively changing the story by helping deliver clean water. This vital support reduces illness and gives children the chance to grow, learn, and enrich our world with their talents and presence, rather than losing their lives to preventable waterborne diseases.

Thanks to everyone’s dedication, WaterAid has raised nearly $93,000 so far. Together, we can help reach the $200,000 goal and make a lasting impact.

Sydney Harbour to Global Impact: Walking for Water with WaterAid — Day 3

From 6 to 10 October, I’m taking the scenic route to and from work — walking across the Sydney Harbour Bridge each day to support WaterAid’s mission to provide clean water to communities in developing nations who need it.

So far, I’ve spent around 3 hours on foot, covering roughly 15 km — more than 24,000 steps. It feels great to stay active, but even better is knowing that each step helps raise awareness and moves us closer to reaching my $2,000 fundraising goal for this week.

I’m sometimes asked the question, “What’s something about you that isn’t covered in your application?”  

When I hear that question, I always begin by explaining that I chose to study engineering because I wanted to help solve water infrastructure challenges in developing nations. As a water professional, I am determined that no one should have to settle for water that is anything less than clean, safe, and pleasant to drink. I am committed to always choosing the path that upholds quality and compassion in service — ensuring that my work leaves behind a legacy of steadfast commitment to human wellbeing.

This week, as I raise funds for WaterAid, I am deeply grateful for the organisation’s incredible work in bringing clean, safe, and great-tasting water to millions of people around the world.

Thank you to everyone who has already donated or offered to sponsor me — your generosity means the world to me, to WaterAid, and to the communities whose lives will be transformed through access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene.

From Sydney Harbour to Global Impact: Walking for Water with WaterAid

Each morning this week, I’m trading my usual workout for something more meaningful — walking across the Sydney Harbour Bridge and back as part of WaterAid’s Walk for Water 2025.  

As I walked today, I reflected on two verses that capture the heart of this cause and why this walk matters so deeply:  

> “In everything I did, I showed you that by this kind of hard work we must help the weak, remembering the words the Lord Jesus himself said: ‘It is more blessed to give than to receive.’”  

> “Speak up for those who cannot speak for themselves; ensure justice for those who are perishing. Speak up for the poor and helpless and defend the rights of all who are destitute.”  

These words remind me that every step counts — not only towards personal wellbeing, but towards something lasting and transformative: access to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene for the world’s most vulnerable communities.  

If you’re inspired, I invite you to take part or help by sponsoring my walk. Your support can go a long way:  

- $20 can help connect remote communities through 184 metres of water pipe.  

- $29 can give five children access to clean water.  

- $38 can provide toilets at school for a class of children.  

Together, every step we take brings us closer to Clean Water for All! 

From Sydney Harbour to Global Impact: WaterAid Walking for Water

I’ve been thinking about how to Walk for Water this year, even with personal and work deadlines looming—at a time when every minute feels so precious. The answer was simple: ditch the heels, skip the usual workout, and turn my short commute into an opportunity to walk with purpose.  

Being in motion gave me space to reflect on my life and the dreams I still hold for the future. As I walked across the Sydney Harbour Bridge, taking in the beauty of this incredible city, I found myself thanking God for how far I’ve come. I didn’t have to walk for hours each day to fetch water. That time was instead spent studying, playing sport, and pursuing the opportunities that shaped my path—from captaining a national team for Zimbabwe, to earning a pilot’s licence and studying engineering and working in an industry I love.  

My parents had a vision: that their daughter’s future would not be limited by the daily struggle to collect water—often unsafe and far from home.  

This week, as I Walk for Water, I’m asking my friends and colleagues to join me in helping ensure that no community is held back by contaminated water or the lost potential of girls and women whose time is consumed by this burden. Together, we can help end the global water crisis and open doors to education, health, and opportunity.  

My Personal Connection to Walk for Water

Walking for Water is more than a fundraising event—it is a call to action. 

For me, it is a way to use my professional background not only to deliver technical improvements but also to contribute to humanitarian change, advocating that no one should be denied the basic right to clean water.

My Personal Connection

My commitment to WaterAid began in 2018, when I realised how closely my own vision aligned with theirs, both centred on making a tangible difference for communities lacking access to safe, reliable, and good?quality water close to home. Participating in Walk for Water extends my role in the water sector, providing another avenue to act on a daily reality faced by 703 million people worldwide—almost one in ten—who do not have clean water nearby. For many, collecting water means walking for hours each day, simply to meet a family’s most basic need. This event also raises vital funds while promoting awareness of the impact WaterAid delivers globally.

Why Walk for Water?

Walking for Water is my symbol of solidarity with those who live with water scarcity every day. In many communities, particularly in developing regions, women and children often shoulder the burden of walking long distances for water. This daily task impacts their health, reduces opportunities for education, and limits time to earn an income. The act of walking reminds me that access to safe water is not a privilege, but a fundamental human right.

Motivation and Impact

The campaign is powerful not only because it raises essential funds but also because it unites professionals, organisations, and communities in pursuit of the same goal: universal access to clean water. Every step taken during the week?long event represents progress toward improving water infrastructure, raising global awareness, and strengthening community support. For those of us working in the sector, it is also a visible reminder of our responsibility to support sustainable outcomes for future generations and to inspire collective action within the industry.

Community and Professional Solidarity

Walk for Water provides an opportunity to connect with colleagues, family, and friends beyond the usual routines of work. Coming together in teams or participating as individuals reinforces the value of collaboration in solving complex water challenges. It is an act that builds community while contributing to lasting, positive environmental and social outcomes.

Why I'm walking, running & riding for water this October!

• My ambition for walk for water each year is to push WaterAid closer to retirement.  
• I want to raise money so that 703 million people in the world – almost one in ten – receive access to clean water close to their homes.
• If this happens, this means WaterAid will not need to exist!

I want use this effort to highlighting the fact that every day, women, and children walk long distances to collect and carry water for their families. 

However, while girls and boys often begin collecting water as children it is girls who continue to collect and carry water throughout their lives. 

Many girls spend hours each day collecting water, which can leave them with reduced time to go to school.