The Ripples for Good team comprises Liani Broodryk, Maria Botha, Dante and Katryn.  In part one of their epic journey, Liani and Maria along with their Jack Russell dogs, Katryn and Dante, will circumnavigate the entire boundary of South Africa and parts of Mozambique and Namibia.  The purpose of their journey will be to raise awareness and inspire public action surrounding the critical issues of water conservation and safe consumption in our communities.  They will do so alone and unaided, travelling via motorbike, bicycle, canoe, donkey cart and by foot during the various stages of their 16 500 km journey to promote “Ripples for Good”.

In part two of their journey, they will circumnavigate the globe, starting their journey to and around the Americas.  At the end of this expedition they will have traveled through 86 countries and islands via the same and other means used in part one of their journey and with the same purpose, but on a global scale.  They will educate and engage members of the public, both in towns and in remote rural places, to support this cause and will inspire larger companies to take on a social responsibility to help their surrounding communities.   

In both parts of their journey Liani and Maria will document their experiences, highlight problem areas and connect communities with the various water organizations that can help to protect and preserve their water sources in practical ways.  In their own special, courageous and determined way, they will DO something about sustaining water locally and internationally.

Why Ripples for Good and Water Awareness? 

There is no human life without water.  “By means of water” says the Koran, “we give life to everything.”

Water scarcity is one of the greatest threats to the way we live today and ultimately the preservation of the human race.  With ongoing environmental concerns and resulting climate changes, the problems surrounding water scarcity and conservation is growing at an alarming rate.   

Poor hygiene and sanitation kills more people in the world than HIV/AIDS and malaria combined; and more than any war claims through guns. Globally, dysentery caused by unclean water and poor sanitation accounts for the vast majority of the 1.8 million child deaths each year.  Put simply, diarrhea from unclean water is the second largest cause of child mortality. 

Today there are:

• 1.1 billion people living without clean drinking water
• 2.6 billion people lacking adequate sanitation
• 1.8 million people dying every year from diarrhea diseases
• 900 children dying every day from waterborne diseases

Liani and Maria are passionate about their home country, South Africa. They are strongly aware of the impact water pollution has on our rivers and seas and in turn the effect it has on our environment and communities.  They see the ensuing destruction dirty water and poor sanitation has on the natural beauty of South Africa and its people.  

They passionately believe that they can do something to make a difference in the waterways both locally and internationally.  Their focus in doing so will be to raise awareness of this global water crisis and to help offer aide to those communities that do not have safe drinking water or proper sanitation.  They will

achieve this by creating sustainable alliances between the expertise of leading organizations, individuals who want to help, and the communities.  

"We shall not finally defeat Aids, Tuberculosis, Malaria, or any other Infectious diseases that plague the developing world, until we have also won the battle for Safe Drinking Water, Sanitation and Basic Health Care" Kofi Annan, United Nations.

Background 

No strangers to seemingly insurmountable journeys, these two ladies and their dogs were the first of their kind to circumnavigate South Africa on bicycles.  They have also hiked the Drakensberg and the Magaliesberg mountain ranges, kayaked the Orange and Vaal rivers, and hiked the entire Transkei coastline three times.  In total they have covered a distance of approximately 15 000 km on bicycles and 6 000 km on foot in addition to kayaking and hitch-hiking.

En route they have championed many causes and raised funds and awareness for a number of foundations.

We are Liani Broodryk, Maria Botha, Dante and Katryn, the Ripples for Good team.  Before we called ourselves anything we were just 2 girls and 2 Jack Russels who, in the spur of the moment, decided to pack up a life that did not seem to make sense and trade it in for the road less travelled. In October 2004, we started our journey by cycling out of St Lucia, with heavy laden bicycles and a dog in each basket, making our way to Cape Town

There are many ways in which we can get technical about the how’s, when’s and why’s we started this journey, but ours is a story, and there's only one thing to do with a story, you tell it. 

By "us", I mean 2 girls, Maria Botha and Liani Broodryk, 2 Jack Russels, Katryn and Dante on bicycles, and our amazing journey through South Africa. This is how it started:
It was one night, at a get together, surrounded by friends and family, when the reality of the moment struck. What was usually fun and games, turned stale, suddenly! Stuck in the proverbial rut! The moment was too big to ignore, so, the obvious question was, where to go from here? So as if by design, we set off to St Lucia, to new horizons, self discoveries, and a tremendous awakening. 

The 'challenge' was met once we rode into Cape Town, 3 months later, after some close calls and never felt before, intense moments, we knew that this was not the end by a long shot. So, it is here, where our journey truly begins. Everyday just suddenly had a reason, and every moment counted. It was difficult, the obstacles seemed impossible, but with this came the discovery of kindness, trust, love, humbleness and courage, and the loyalty and trust of animals and nature alike.
We became aware of a whole new world, one that was so endless in it's possibilities and opportunities, we almost couldn't believe it! Threatening this world however, is ignorance and the lack of fearless leaders, ones who inspire individuals to understand and pursue their innermost truth, instead we are misguided and made to believe that war and terror is our only choice. In the midst of all this violence and outrage, is some truly amazing individuals, who have made it their life's work, to reach out to those who have lost hope, and despite efforts to promote confusion, rage, fear, distrust, the way of the world as it is told through mighty mediums, such as the media,

Since we've left St Lucia, our lives have changed dramatically. We saw that through what we were doing, and by challenging our own fears, we were starting to capture the imagination of many and soon realized that our story needs to be told. It is one worth telling, for it could very well be everybody's discovery. 

Through weird coincidences, we have joined various organizations in their efforts to heal the wounded, preserve mother nature, etc.. We realize though, that what we experience first hand, could be an effective enough medium, to relay the truth about the state of our country and it's people. It's not as 'bad' as everyone fears, in fact, it's an amazing adventure, and this is how we thought it should go:
We have thought to relay our adventures on a website, which will basically contain our daily diary, pictures, video footage, live chats, etc. A wildly interactive site, aimed at showing off the beauty and diversity of our country and it's people, and at the same time, raise awareness for issues and pandemics that needs attention.

Sponsorships 

 Liani and Maria have received sponsorship and support from corporate companies, local businesses and organizations such as Garmin, Royal Canin, Karrimor, Spar, Karsten Boederye, Sony and Continental Tyres to name a few of their major sponsors.    

On their previous trips the two girls have been extremely fortunate to have received help from hundreds of people who believe in their causes.  Unfortunately these are too numerous to mention.   

Liani and Maria would like to encourage members of the public as well as companies and corporations to help support their cause.  They would like those willing to make a difference in their country by supporting this campaign and ensuring that the water running from their own personal taps at their homes are safe to drink, the water resources in their immediate vicinity are being cleared and conserved from pollution, the protection of their environment and those who believe in the importance of saving water resources for communities and wildlife to join Ripples for Good and help make a difference.  Ripples For Good would like to encourage the combined power of public opinion, the economic drive of the private sector and regulatory framework which ensure a sustainable approach to having safe drinking water equally available for all….

We all stand united and stripped of cultural and ethnic borders with a crisis that involves every single living human being. Our water is not safe to drink anymore and our water resources are being polluted to such an extent that the crisis needs to be tackled asap. You, your company or organization can get involved in finding sustainable solutions, educating the people and creating awareness either by sponsoring equipment, supplies , food or accommodation and/ financing. 

Ripples for Good would like to thank the following companies that have either supported us in the past or are on board for part one of the

Ripples for Good initiative: 

• Water Research Commission
• Do It Now Adventures
• Garmin
• Dunslaz Distributors (Karrimor)
• Falke
• Divestyle Magazine