FRIENDSWOOD, Texas — Occasionally, humanitarians are accused of being out of touch with the people they serve, trying to use "mountaintop" solutions to solve "valley" problems.
But for humanitarian and Friendswood native Elizabeth Gore and a few international celebrities and activists, mountaintop solutions are the name of the game.
The group will begin a seven-day climb Thursday up Mount Kilimanjaro in Tanzania to bring attention to a worldwide clean water crisis.
Joining Gore will be Grammy award-winning artist Kenna, actresses Jessica Biel and Isabel Lucas, rapper Lupe Fiasco, water expert Dr. Greg Allgood, and Alexandra Cousteau, granddaughter of explorer Jacques-Yves Cousteau.
The climb and the events surrounding it, dubbed "Summit on the Summit," was spearheaded by Los Angeles-based recording artist Kenna, an Ethiopian native.
Gore will serve as an "educator" on the climb, using her experience with the United Nations Foundation and her previous work in the Peace Corps to help convey the importance of ready sources of clean water.
The climb to Africa’s highest point, Uhuru Peak at 19,340 feet, is sponsored by Hewlett-Packard, Procter and Gamble’s PUR brand and Eddie Bauer.
It will benefit three water crisis related organizations: Children’s Safe Drinking Water, the U.N.’s refugee agency and PlayPumps International.
The group hopes to raise donations from the public as well.
People can visit the Summit on the Summit Web site at www.sum mitonthesummit.com, to follow live posts from the climbers and sponsor a leg of the climb.
"I’m so excited for the challenge and absolutely honored to represent the U.N. Foundation," Gore said.
The Texas A&M alumna, who is currently the foundation’s executive director of global partnerships and the Nothing But Nets campaign, has been training near her Washington, D.C., home for about a year.
With temperatures on the mountain ranging from below zero to well into the 80s, "Kili" promises to be a much different experience than her upbringing on a Friendswood ranch.
"I think it’s funny they asked a woman from one of the flattest and hottest parts of the country to climb this mountain," Gore said.
Afterward, the group plans to visit sites in Ethiopia to get a look at the shortages there.
Gore said more than a billion people worldwide do not have access to clean water, including about 40 million refugees.
Such deprivation kills a person every 15 seconds and affects everything from children’s health, to malaria and climate change, she said.
For some, the absence of ready sources of clean water also means hours spent daily retrieving it.
Gore said she lived without running water for two years and three months in Bolivia as a member of the Peace Corps.
Fetching her own water took about two hours and was limited to what she could carry, she said.
In Ethiopia, women spend an average of six hours a day fetching water, Gore said.
The water they retrieve, however, is often unfiltered, which can result in a host of illnesses.
For other people, water shortages mean having only seven liters available per day to drink, bath and wash clothes.
Gore said efforts like the Kili climb can garner many small donations that add up to confront the challenge in a meaningful way.
As for the climb, Gore said she has only one concern.
"I’m scared of the cold," she said. "I’m from Texas through and through."
This story was brought to you thanks to khou.com's partnership with The Galveston County Daily News.
