WATERFORD TO ISHIARA VIRTUAL CAMINO

Why do this Camino?

• Climate change, particularly unpredictable rainfall in an already semi-arid area, makes it more difficult to grow crops & raise livestock in Ishiara. The funds raised will help local families to build water-pans at their houses and possibly allow communities to build sand-dams to promote sustainable agriculture,
• Walking/Running/Cycling is good for our health. If we can displace some driving, it is a real Win-Win,
•  If we raise enough funds, we will be able to support a computer room for another school,
• We will enjoy seeing and reading about all the exotic places enroute, during the cold & wet days in Ireland.

How do I sign-up?

Sign up with some friends for our Virtual Camino from Waterford to Ishiara by clicking the link below.

• You can sign up on your own or you can join as part of a team*; either way you will get the regular emails updates.
• You can sign up your own household and still log adults & kids kms individually; you will get the emails to one email address, and you can all join a Team*
• -Even if you don’t intend walking yourself, you can sign up as a Sponsor to support a particular Person or Team*. You will still get all the email updates and we will publish your name or company name if you wish. A grand-parent can sponsor a grand-child, an employer can sponsor an employee team.

*Teams: In the interest of fun and healthy competition, participants can enter as a Team (max 10 participants/Team), give their Team a name and we will publish Total Team kms. (no extra donation necessary)

How much should I donate?

• Individual sign-up, suggested Donation €20 – €50+,
• Family sign-up (same household) ,suggested donation €25 – €100+,
• Sign up as a Sponsor to support a particular Team, any donation welcome,
• Sign up as above and join a Team, no additional donation necessary,

How do we count the kilometres?

We will email you a link daily. Submit the kilometres you cover every day or two, with about 3 clicks on your phone or laptop & watch the total build up, until we reach Ishiara, Kenya. You can Walk, Run and/or Cycle. You don’t need a FitBit or Apple Watch, we’ll trust your best guess.

We will share updates on our progress on the map, along with descriptions of each place we visit along the way, that you can enjoy from the comfort of your own home.

Our target is to reach Ishiara (~10,250kms) before Easter, so the more friends you get to join in, the sooner we get there!

When does it start?

The official start is Sat 20^th February, but participants may count their kilometres from Wed 17^th February (Ash Wednesday).  However new participants are free to join in at any time along the way.

The loop around St Joseph & Benildus Church and St Mary’s, Ballygunner is about 9.5 kms. It will be great if as many participants as possible could do that loop over Sat 20^th /Sun 21^st February and take a selfie at one or two points along it and post them on the Parish facebook page.

What is the Virtual “Route”.

We start from St Joseph & Benildus Church in Waterford, to St Mary’s Church Ballygunner, at the opposite end of the parish, onwards to Passage-East, across to County Wexford, from Rosslare to Fishguard and across Wales to Bath, then through England to Dover….. You can see the full route here From JBM to Ishiara Parish, Kenya and zoom right in to explore the   local area.

The Virtual route is Approx. 10,250 kms going around the eastern end of the Mediterranean sea, through Istanbul, the Holy Land, Jerusalem, Egypt, Ethiopia, Sudan and into northern Kenya.

You will be able to track our actual progress here: Waterford – Ishiara Virtual Camino Route Progress

What email updates will I receive along the way?

We will send regular email updates (every 1-2 days) showing our current progress along the route, some information about the locations and areas we are passing through and a Leader Board of Team and Individual kms covered. We will welcome any information, stories or photos that participants would like to share with everyone about locations we will be passing through.

Where and When will this Camino end?

This Camino will culminate with a group of fellow parishioners in Ishiara, entering the Church of the Good Shepherd, Ishiara. We will share a short video of this entry to the church of the Good Shepherd with all participants.

We hope to arrive before Easter, but we won’t know the exact date until we’re nearly there and may have to take account of Easter ceremonies.

What will the money be used for?

It would be great if we could raise €10,000. This allows our partners in Ishiara to:

• Buy materials for families to dig 20 water-pans to harvest rain-water for irrigation, vegetable growing & supporting animals (more info here). Materials cost about €250 per water-pan.
• Create a computer room in one of the local schools (here’s two we already supported last year, working with Camara).
• Building a further sand-dam would cost approx €25,000 and would supply water for up to 60 families (300 people and their livestock)

The completed Sand-Dam

Covid 19

Whether you walk, run or cycle, please follow all Government regulations and guidelines to keep yourself and friends safe.

There are no expenses in running this event and 100% of the donations go to our partner parish in Ishiara for the projects described.