Hall of Famer Betsy King, twice a winner of the US Women’s Open, has spent the years of her retirement focused on Africa, where the need for clean water remains acute, and the provision of that water makes incredible differences in the lives of the people. We talked to Betsy about her organization, Golf Fore Africa, and how you can connect with them.
Introduce us to Golf Fore Africa.
Golf Fore Africa is a non-profit that we started 11 years ago, and we raise money to bring help and hope to Africa. Currently, we are funding water projects in rural villages in Zambia. We fund water pumps, hand pumps, wells, and also mechanized systems, mainly in health clinics and schools. The hand pumps are in villages. We are working are in very rural areas where people are often living without electricity. When we do a mechanized system, we [often] use solar power to pump the water up to a holding tank, and then we are able to put taps along the line just outside homes and bring water inside to help facilities and schools.
It’s always fun to see a fresh contrast with people that are living there. They look healthier, they look cleaner, and their spirits are raised.I get to Africa two or three times a year. I have been there twice this year, and every time I go I am inspired to come back and do more. The people have a great spirit and yet they are living in conditions we just don’t see in the United States. I mean there aren’t too many people here that don’t have access to clean water and don’t have a lot of electricity. [The lack of water] often affects women and girls the most because they are the ones that are often tasked with walking for water. Actually, one of the statistics is that 1,000 children die each day in the developing world due to drinking dirty water, so it is something that can be changed and prevented, and that is what we are trying to do.
We partner with World Vision. They are the ones that do the work on the ground. Golf Fore Africa, our goal is to raise funds and awareness in the golf community to address the water crisis. We feel that we need to go Africa every year to see if our dollars are where they said they would be and doing what we said they would do. We’ve really had a good partnership and we have already brought clean water to over 200 wells in Zambia, as well as funding water work in several other countries.
That’s great. What do you do when you go?
We do two things. We take donors along that have funded wells or mechanized systems. We usually like to start the trip with going to a community that doesn’t have access to clean water. It is very eye-opening. We had two couples that were with us in June and their first reaction, talking about it afterward, was, “I cant believe that people live today in conditions like this.”
We had a family that was living in a one-room hut and the children were not very healthy. Not only did they not have access to clean water, their food source was very scarce and the children might eat only twice a day and the adults once a day. It’s not a very nutritious diet and they had a number of issues they were addressing. When we bring clean water into a community, it just changes everything. Now they don’t have to get sick from the water that they are drinking, they don’t have to walk as far to get the water, so it frees up their time. Girls are now able to go to school and there are a number of businesses that grow up around the water well. Most of the families are trying to raise crops, so now their crops are better and they are able to grow more and possibly take some to the market and make a little money. They are hoping to get themselves out of extreme poverty. So that’s the first thing we do is take them to a community without clean water.
Then we dedicate wells in villages that have received these wells, and it is a big celebration. It’s always fun to see a fresh contrast with people that are living there. They look healthier, they look cleaner, and their spirits are raised. They are now taking control of their lives because they have opportunity. I can’t tell you what a contrast that is. I mean, everyone that goes with us notices that.
It is very important to do the celebration because one of the things we believe is that we give a hand up, not a handout. So once we dig the wells and dedicate it, it is now the responsibility of the village to take care of it. World Vision has someone that comes in as a community worker. Not only do they teach them how to take care of the well, but there is a water committee that is trained to take care of the well. They collect some money, but there is money on hand to repair the well if it breaks down. Then they are also taught about hygiene and sanitation, so that’s very important as well. All those things together make a big difference in the lives of the families and children that we see in Africa. Every time I have gone, I am inspired to do more and I’m also inspired by the people we interact with.
It’s amazing what a difference a well makes.
Yes. I have learned a lot about how you do development in the Third World, and it’s very hard to do some things if people don’t have access to clean water and have a food source. It’s pretty basic, but it is also very necessary and it just makes such a difference. We are all responsible for carrying out the Great Commission to share the gospel, but also you know Jesus loved the poor, so you have to have hearts for the poor and you know do more than just pray. You also can physically bring help, so that is what we are doing.
You have a couple of events coming up in Southern California and Arizona that our people might want to get involved in. How can they do that?
Well, if they go our website, which is GolfForeAfrica.org, they can click on Events. The event in California is called Strong Women, Strong World Orange County. That is on Friday, October 6, at the Balboa Bay Club in Newport Beach. We have great speakers for that event. We have a woman from Africa who is coming to speak who works for World Vision in Zambia. Another speaker Lani Dolifka, owns a water company here in the United States. For every gallon of water they sell here, they pay for a gallon of water in the developing world. So it really makes a difference.
Then on Thursday, November 8, we have an event down here in north Scottsdale. Rich and Renae Stearns—Rich is the head of World Vision—they are our main speakers at our Scottsdale event. They are both a lot of fun. We do an African marketplace where people can buy items that are made in Africa and they benefit various charities, not necessarily our charity. We have a virtual reality space this year where you can put on that headset and see a story of someone walking for water like they do in Africa. We do an ask at the end, but everyone that comes is usually touched and it is fun and it is informative. I know that everyone that I have talked to has really enjoyed the experience.