Living Water

UPDATE: On the morning of January 10, 2010, St. Louis resident and Team Living Water member Chris Juhasz reached the summit of Mount Kilimanjaro, Africa’s tallest mountain. (If you missed the original story leading up to the climb, you can read it here.) After months of preparation, six days of hard climbing, and spiking a high fever that threatened to make him turn back, he finally made it. And while reaching the summit signaled the completion of a personal goal for him, the climb was really about so much more.

“The fact that I was there in the name of Living Water made it a much more emotional and rewarding experience,” Chris says. “In fact, knowing I was there for Living Water proved to be a big motivator about halfway into the climb when I fell ill. Knowing I was there to champion a great cause gave me strength to finish what I had come to accomplish.”

As part of Chris’s journey, he set out to raise enough money to drill a deep water well with Living Water in Tanzania—a well that can cost up to $16,000. A lofty goal, perhaps—but it was a goal that seemed somehow to match the challenge of climbing Kilimanjaro. You can donate to the cause through Chris’s First Giving page or at FetchingAPailofWater.com. You can also read detailed reports from his climb on his blog.

So, what’s next for Chris? While he’s not sure when he’ll climb the next mountain, he’s currently gearing up to champion the cause of the thirsty once again by running the St. Louis half marathon in the spring as part of Team Living Water.