13:00, 26 January 2022
Words by Smiley Team, Staff Writer, London
Nearly 10 years ago, two women challenged their friends and family to join them on a walking journey.
They decided to start walking to heal their bodies, inspire their daughters, reclaim their communities - and improve their health.
Since then, more than one million women have take the pledge to walk more - and joined the movement they created called Girl Trek.
Morgan Dixon and Vanessa Garrison - the two friends who set up Girl Trek - met in college, with an interest in the same music, books, and smothered pork chops. They also had an interest in self-care.
“We challenged our friends and family to walk with us to motivate them to move," explains Vanessa. "We had no idea that what we were starting would become a national movement."
[Read more: Exercise your way to beating poverty]
"When I first started walking, something strange happened," says Morgan. "The world began to slow down. I began to feel better. I became more conscious of my body and the world around me. I was transported as I went."
She wanted others to share this feeling. What compelled the two friends the most to start this walking journey were the statistics of life expectancy of many women in some families.
"We don't just rattle off daunting statics, we are the statistics," says Vanessa. "We stay awake at night, have endless brainstorms, and are compelled to act every day. I calculated the average life expectancy of the women in the immediate family. It was 66."
With these facts, they knew that something had to be done and GirlTrek was formed.
The mission of GirlTrek is to pioneer a health movement for African-American women and girls. The movement promotes women to walk as a realistic first step toward inspiring healthy living in their families and communities. Women recruit community people to support monthly advocacy initiatives and lead health movements by forming walking teams.
Besides walking, GirlTrek members actively advocate local and national policy to boost physical activity through walking, enhance access to safe walking areas, protect and reclaim green spaces, and improve the walkability and built environments of 50 high-need neighborhoods in the United States.
"We are not a workout group. We are an army of women who are sick and tired of being sick and tired," says Vanessa.
Do you want to learn how you can get involved in GirlTrek in your area? If so, check out their website to learn more! Or donate to help their efforts continue.
