Introduction video by Kaiho & Leslie: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=A91lPqU7aT8

Beginning in September, we will be walking the ancient Shikoku Pilgrimage. The pilgrimage route consists of approximately 1200km (750 mi) on Shikoku, one of Japan’s 4 main islands. The route connects 88 temples in a circuit around the island, and the temples are like checkpoints along its path. Some of them are in towns, others atop summits of hills covered in green. Although this pilgrimage has no true goal other than the journey itself, reaching each of the 88 temples will help us continue to reaffirm our intentions for this journey.

We decided to do this pilgrimage for personal and spiritual reasons, and recently thought up the idea to give it extra meaning by including friends and family and fundraising for a beneficial and inspiring initiative. We did some research, and both felt inspired by the project Charity Water for this platform.

We gave this fundraising the theme name, "Water & Fire.” You may be wondering what it represents? Well, this project has two different aspects to it!

Water - Lack of clean water is a massive global issue. 1 in 10 people (2x the population of the U.S.!) lack access to clean water. To date, Charity Water has changed the lives of 7 million people worldwide. Every dollar donated is used towards water projects for those without access to clean water. Every little donation makes a world of difference! (More info about Charity Water below and on this website—they're pretty amazing!)

Fire - For every $5 donated by you, we will light a candle dedicated to you at one of the 88 temples. In lighting your candle, we’ll offer gratitude for your support and pray that you may receive strength, courage and love in your own life. If there's anything specific you'd like us to pray for, please reach out and let us know!

Without a doubt, there will be a lot of joy to be had along the way. In addition, we'll definitely face many challenges of both body and spirit. We'll be hiking with camping gear and our belongings on our backs, along roads, up hills, over mountains, and during a month known to be very rainy on the island. Thus, all candles lighted will no doubt be empowered by our efforts. You can trust that they will be lighted with reverence, grace and gratitude.

Afterwards, we'll be sending you pictures of your lighted candles at the temples. (If you donate $25 for example, we'll light a candle for you at 5 different temples, and we'll send you pictures of all of them!)

Please include your full name as a donor, as we would love to dedicate a candle to you as a supporter. Or you can send us a private message via Facebook or email. (If you'd like to remain anonymous, we would love to send our love and prayers to you anonymously). Thank you!

Thank you in advance for your support. We look forward to sharing in this journey with you!

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More Info about Charity Water

Many of us have no idea what it's like to be thirsty everyday, and we have plenty of water to drink. We don’t have to worry about the quality of the water when washing our dishes or taking a shower. Even the water in our toilets is clean! But many people around the world don’t have that luxury. Every day, about 1,400 children die from diseases caused by unsafe water and poor sanitation. But it doesn’t have to be that way. There are simple solutions like drilled wells, spring protectors and BioSand filters that help provide clean water to communities around the world.

100% of the money we raise will go towards clean water projects, and when they’re complete, Charity Water will send us photos and GPS coordinates so we can see the exact community we helped!