Terry to walk 30 miles in Ocean City from sunrise to sunset on Dec. 13
OCEAN CITY — During one of her rare stops stateside, when her favorite place to visit is America’s Greatest Family Resort, engineer Caitlin Terry is planning to walk for water so others don’t have to do so.
The 43-year-old Vineland native has spent the past 16 years traveling to remote villages around the globe to help establish access to safe drinking water.
As part of her work through Hydromissions International, the licensed civil engineer is planning to walk 30 miles in Ocean City on Dec. 13 in hopes of raising $15,000 to fund water access missions in Nepal.
According to the organization, more than 780 million people worldwide live without access to clean water. More than 800,000 people around the globe die every year from water, sanitation and hygiene related causes.
Terry plans to walk from sunrise to sunset during her “Walk for Water,” raising funds and awareness for the international crisis.
Based in Lexington, S.C., Hydromissions International is a faith-based organization that has funded 450 projects in 40 countries, providing safe drinking water to 200,000 people on five continents.
Founders Steve and Jennifer Lorch developed the Explorer Hand Drilling System (EXP-50). The EXP-50 is a durable manual drill for shallow boreholes that can be repaired or replaced by using parts that are accessible in most developing countries. The entire drill can be backpacked to just about any location without having to worry about vehicle accessibility.
In areas where the EXP-50 drill is unable to reach water, Hydromissions can build rainwater catchment systems or build spring water catchment and piping systems.
This is Hydromissions’ first official Walk for Water event. Funds raised will support the development of wells, latrines, ceramic water filters and hygiene education for underserved districts in Nepal’s southern Rautahat and Sarlahi districts.
Terry, who graduated from Rowan University in 2005, worked for engineering firms in Mount Laurel and Moorestown before setting off on her mission to bring water to those without access.
She said she was driven to take on the challenge.
“Everybody has a different skill set. I sleep in a tent, eat questionable food and help people,” she said.
“I always loved helping people directly,” she added. “Working abroad in small villages and helping people access bare necessities is so important. I just have passion out of love.”
Terry said she wants the people whom she helps to know that it’s not just Caitlin Terry from New Jersey helping them, but it’s “God providing for them and loving them.”
“It lets them know they are seen and that God loves them,” she said.
Terry said the nonprofit’s annual budget for Nepal is $30,000, half of which has already been raised, and will provide for the development of 50 wells, 10 latrines and 280 water filters for at-home use to benefit 280 families.
“My hope is this will help finish off funding for the Nepal program,” Terry said, adding that those interested can donate online at hydromissions.org.
She said the walk is simply a marketing ploy to raise money and awareness.
“I just thought, what can I do that is significant but won’t cost me any money? I can walk,” she said, noting that she often travels on foot from village to village through her work. “From sunrise to sunset, I can cover 30 miles.”
Terry said her walk will be symbolic, noting that many of those she meets must walk a mile of more for fresh water a couple of times a day.
She has broken the city up into four segments and she plans to walk non-stop — “except for traffic lights and bathroom breaks.”
She will start with four miles back and forth on the 2.5-mile boardwalk, then eight miles across the Route 52 causeway to Somers Point and back, followed by a trip to 34th Street and back to Ninth Street before heading down Asbury Avenue to the Ocean City-Longport Bridge, south to 59th Street and then back to Ninth Street.
She plans to walk the final three miles with family, friends and anyone else who shows up at about 3:30 p.m. at the Ninth Street boardwalk entrance.
“It’s open to anyone who wants to be part of it,” she said. “The idea is that we are walking so that others don’t have to and we will be at least able to help some of them.”
Terry said she chose Ocean City because she would often visit in her youth.
“Once I could drive, I was always in the ocean or on the boardwalk,” she said.
Landmark Church is one of the nonprofit’s sponsoring organizations.
“A lot of my friends live there, people I have known for a long time,” she said. “Ocean City has been my favorite place to be. There’s nothing better than going onto the beach and walking along the ocean no matter the weather.”
– By CRAIG D. SCHENCK/Sentinel staff
