Western suburbs woman Sherryn Bowers is halfway through a walking challenge in which she plans to cover 500 kilometres in daily walks around Melbourne, hoping to raise $25,000 from sponsorship for her favourite charity.
Ms Bowers is walking 10 kilometres a day as she collects funds for The Hunger Project, an organisation that works to empower people in Africa.
She said that after working and volunteering in Tanzania and Vietnam and seeing severe poverty in person, she was determined to do something.
“There are 840 million people around the world going hungry every day and one in every eight people suffers from severe malnutrition,” Ms Bowers said.
“I’ve been to many of the countries where finding enough food to eat is a daily battle.
“Despite the pain of hunger, many of the people I met inspired me because of their tenacity and resilience.”
Ms Bowers said she would be walking 10 kilometres every day for 50 days, which she would balance with her busy job as a leadership coach.
“I made a commitment to myself. I said I wasn’t going to count walking if I just went to the car, or something,” she said.
“I don’t think I realised how much it was going to take out of my day. Some days are fine then other times I get home and I just don’t want to walk another 10 kilometres.”
But she hopes her hard work will be worth it.
“I know people in places like Malawi can lead a better life,” she said. “All they need is a step up, which they can’t make without a helping hand. The Hunger Project is making a long-term investment, something the people will be able to use for many years to come.”
For more details on Ms Bowers’ walk, or to donate, visit: bit.ly/UxDeBh.
