During a recent meeting with Ina Anahata (a co-founder of the BARKA Foundation), Christina Long and Donald Brooks were informed of the planned departure date for their upcoming trip to Burkina Faso.  Leaving on Monday, March 12, 2012, the foundation plans to remain in Burkina for a duration of 3 months during which they will drill and repair a well in the village of Tantiaka and begin a hygiene program at the local school.  Also during the visit, Ina informed the two of their new titles: Directors of the Peace, Water, and Wisdom Race Series.  To access a copy of BARKA's most recent news letter, detailing the many initiatives currently taking place, click here. 

       Directors Donald J. Brooks and Christina M. Long will be holding a series of informational presentations in order to advertise for the second annual race on October 7th, 2012,  specifically to spread awareness about the cause and to encourage people to participate. If you are interested in hosting a presentation, please contact the them via email at info@peacewaterwisdomrace.org or via phone at (207)-619-0790.

       Finished several months ago, the official Peace, Water, and Wisdom Race video has been available to viewing on our channel on Youtube.  Using this video, the PWW Race Planning Committee will be able to help individuals experience past events in hopes to inspire them to participate.  The video can be found below or by clicking here.  

       Help support the BARKA Foundation in their quest to raise money to help the impoverished people living in Burkina Faso.  Vote for the BARKA Foundation on Facebook by clicking here via the Chase Community Giving program for a chance to win $25,000.  Chase is donating over 3 million dollars to worthy charities in the form of 100 $25,000 grants.  Voting begins today, November 08, 2011.  Make your 10 votes count! 

Thank-you,

D.J. Brooks
President, SEAC

Click the following link to vote for BARKA, http://apps.facebook.com/chasecommunitygiving/charities/204372789-barka?src=twitter. 

       The first annual Peace, Water,and Wisdom 5k Race was held on October 2, 2011 and was a huge success!  We would like to thank all of our participants, sponsors, and volunteers for aiding us in delivering clean drinking water to a large population of deserving individuals in the small, West African country of Burkina Faso!  With over 100 participants, live music, and speeches given by Ina and Esu Anahata (the Co-Founder's of the BARKA Foundation), a sense of community developed that was determined to spread access to a natural resource that most of us take for granted.  We raised just over $1,200, which will be donated directly to the BARKA Foundation for use during their upcoming trip to Burkina later this month.  The PWW Race Planning Committee has started planning for next year's event, and hopes to grow considerably.  Be sure to mention the PWW Race to friends and alert people of next years event, which we hope will be even more successful than this year.  
       The race was featured on the October 3rd Morning News Broadcast of WABI TV5 based in Bangor.  Found below is the story that they aired.  

"Bangor - Some students from John Bapst Memorial High School held a fundraiser Sunday, that will help people in a west African country.
       They hosted a 5k Water Walk, to raise money for people in Burkina Faso.  The money goes to the [BARKA] Foundation, which works to increase the overall quality of life in the small country.  They have a big water crisis.
       " We all take water for granted. They have to walk 6k everyday to get dirty water which makes them sick and kills them."
       " This work[s] not only helps the people in Burkina Faso by giving them the right of clean water, but it also develops leaders, student leader[s] right here in our communities."
       Members of the [BARKA] Foundation will be heading to Africa soon and will return to John Bapst to report their progress."


The published copy of the story accompanied with video footage from the event can be found by clicking here.

"My friend Jason who teaches at John Bapst High School in Bangor asked me to help spread the word about this cool, local 5K for an excellent cause, and it has been totally organized by high school students on the Environmental Action Committee.  All proceeds benefit the BARKA Foundation, which works to provide clean water and sanitation skills to the people of Burkina Faso, Africa, a small, land-locked country in west Africa.

I actually will be running a half marathon in Portland on the same day, but if any of you are thinking about or looking for a 5K, this looks like a perfect one.
Here are the details: 

       With a little over three weeks left before the race, the push to register participants is increasing in intensity.  We would like to thank The Weekly for the continued assistance in spreading our message.  

BANGOR — The John Bapst Memorial High School Student Environmental Action Committee will hold its first Peace, Water, and Wisdom 5K Race to benefit the BARKA Foundation on Sunday, Oct. 2, at the Bangor Waterfront.
       BARKA is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization that works with the people of the small West African country of Burkina Faso, to increase their overall quality of life. Thousands in Africa are suffering from the water crisis, an extreme deficiency in water availability. BARKA has set out to end this suffering by drilling and repairing wells, as well as beginning a hygiene and sanitation program for the village of Tantiaka, population about 500.
       Those interested can participate by walking, or running, competitively or noncompetitively, to aid the BARKA Foundation in spreading access to sanitary drinking water to a large population.
       The registration form is at http:// www.peacewaterwisdomrace.org. Also available are the team registration and individual fundraising (pledge) forms. Participants must register by Sept. 15 to reserve an official T-shirt and racing bib, for those who want to run competitively.

Published on September 8, 2011, in The Weekly.  

       As the first annual Peace, Water, and Wisdom 5K Race takes shape, we are always delighted to be featured in the area's media.  Found below is an article published in the Bangor Daily News on August 18, 2011 highlighting key aspects of our event.

BANGOR, Maine — Members of the Student Environmental Action Committee at John Bapst Memorial High School are teaming up with the founders of the BARKA Foundation to raise money for Burkina Faso.
       The Peace, Water and Wisdom 5K race is on Oct. 2, and will use the same route as the Susan G. Komen Race for the Cure set for Sept. 18.
       An unaffiliated nongovernmental organization, the BARKA Foundation works with communities to improve quality of life in Burkina Faso, a land-locked country in West Africa.
       Racers must be registered by Sept. 15 and can register by visitingwww.peacewaterwisdomrace.org. The organizers also are seeking sponsors.
       Registration begins at the Bangor Waterfront at 9 a.m. with the race starting at 10 a.m.
       John Bapst’s Student Environmental Action Committee also aided the BARKA Foundation in May with a Water Walk around the city.

This story can also be found on the Bangor Daily News website by clicking here.  

     This past Monday, May 23, about 40 students from the John Bapst Memorial High School, the majority of whom were members of our Student Environmental Action Committee (SEAC), paraded up and down the streets of Bangor, cheering, chanting, and flaunting signs displaying our cause: a Water Walk in hopes to bring an end to the World Water Crisis. Several months before this event, our school was privileged enough to host the founders of the BARKA Foundation, Ina and Esu Anahata. During their inspirational speech, Ina and Esu documented and presented us with images and information about the people of a small West African country called Burkina Faso. Burkina Faso is one of the poorest countries on the planet, with some of the lowest qualities of life as well. On average, an individual must walk over 5 kilometers (approx. 3 miles) to attain about a gallon of unsanitary water that they then use to bath, drink, and cook. Not only would this water be deemed unfit for use by our standards, it contains pathogens that cause curable diseases, and various other parasites with similar effects. BARKA, which is a United Nations NGO recognized nonprofit organization, works to benefit the people of Burkina Faso by providing them with necessary information and supplies which work to save lives, and better many others. Now, Ina and Esu are trying to raise money to drill new and repair old wells, as well as begin a sanitation program to educate the Burkinabe in the ways of cleanliness.
    After their visit, it was evident that the Anahata’s had instilled a desire to help the people of Burkina Faso in our school community. With the videos shown and stories told by the Anahata’s, SEAC was able to gather ideas about how we could specifically help the Burkinabe. As an organization, we decided to host a community wide water walk on October 2, 2011 to take place at the Bangor Water Front, pending the acceptance of our application. All the proceeds from the walk will go directly to help the Burkinabe, for Ina and Esu are returning to Burkina Faso in late October of this year. The walk that we held on Monday, served to raise awareness about the cause and to also promote our larger water walk in the fall. I am amazed at the support we received from the witnesses of this mob of driven teenagers walking down the street. I was pleased to see that as people drove by they would give us encouraging “thumbs-up”, and of course the spirit-boosting horn honk. Overall, we hope to have a large turnout of individuals at the fall water walk to help the people of a unknown, but unforgotten country.

-D.J. Brooks
President of the John Bapst SEAC

The advance press article in the Bangor Daily News can be found by clicking here.