Charlie Uldahl Christensen, Founder and CEO of Walking for Water (W4W), has embarked on a philanthropic pilgrimage from Denmark to Tanzania since mid-2015. His goal is to combat the global water crisis by raising funds to build drinking water systems in developing countries.
In November 2017, Charlie Uldahl reached Côte d' Ivoire. He took advantage of his stopover in the country to visit cocoa-growing communities supported by ICI’sEliminating Child Labor Labor In Cocoa (ECLIC) project in Duékoué and Kouibly. Two of the 50 communities benefiting from the ECLIC project have identified the need for drinking water in the development of their Community Action Plan (CAP). Charlie Uldahl wanted to witness the reality of water supply issues by speaking to the members of these two communities.
In Ipouba, the population is supplied by a marigot located 600 m from the village and in Sinikosson, it uses a river located 3.5 km from the village. Uldahl carried out samples there which were analyzed by the National Institute of Hygiene and which revealed the contamination of the water consumed by the local populations. According to the results of the samples, the water problem is more critical in Sinikosson than in Ipouba. Research on the origins of water contamination will be carried out to demonstrate the importance of water sanitation in these communities to potential benefactors.
Charlie Uldahl has already driven 10,000 km across Europe and North-West Africa. Walking for Water is an organisation based in Denmark. Through this project, Charlie Uldahl intends to optimize a sponsor responsibility program, thanks to the strong media interest generated his pilgrimage through many countries, and by marketing campaigns that enable companies to support a cause and maximize their revenues at the same time.