Retired faculty member making 2,500-mile kayak trip to support Guatemalan children

On the good days, gliding alone in a kayak along the Atlantic coastline, Deb Walters travels “at a human speed, where it is possible to feel and smell and see the coastal environment,” spending hours “with the waves and winds and birds and sea creatures.”

And, of course, there are the people the retired UB faculty member meets along the way, “fascinating people at every stop.”

On the not-so-good days, it can be a challenge just to keep going.

“Many days it felt like jumping off a cliff to get in my kayak and head out into waters unknown to me, not knowing what was ahead, and worrying about whatever that day’s particular obstacle would be,” she told the UB Reporter via email.

People she met told her of their “boating near-disasters that happened just down the coast … One women told me of losing her husband when he sailed in the waters ahead.”

Then there were the brushes with two hurricanes and being told “I am authorized to shoot you” after missing a beacon and accidentally straying into a military security zone.

And, worst of all, the emergency spinal surgery that kept her ashore for months.

But in the end, it’s about the children and families living in and around the huge garbage dump in Guatemala City. “They have such grit and determination to work for a better future for their children,” Walters says of the mothers she has talked to during her many trips to the country, “and they inspire me to demonstrate that with a little grit and perseverance, an ordinary person like me can do ​extraordinary things.”

Walters, 64, is in the midst of a more than 2,500-mile solo kayak journey from Maine to Guatemala to tell the stories of these children and to raise awareness and money for Safe Passage, a Maine nonprofit that supports the Guatemala City garbage dump community.

A faculty member in the UB Department of Computer Science and Engineering from 1983-2002, Walters retired early to Maine “so that I could dedicate more time to giving back.”

She joined the local Rotary Club and traveled with the Rotarians to Guatemala and “became hooked on this beautiful country with such hard-working and optimistic people.”

Her first trip to the garbage dump community 11 years ago was life-changing, as she listened to the mothers talk about their hopes that their children could go to school, learn to read and have a better life. “That simple wish broke my heart,” Walters says, “and I knew I had to help.”

An experienced kayaker — Walters has made solo trips to the Arctic, Nova Scotia and the Florida Everglades — the journey to Guatemala combines her love for long-distance kayaking with her passion for Safe Passage.

She began what was supposed to be a yearlong trip in July 2014, paddling about 1,500 miles from Yarmouth, Maine, to Georgetown, South Carolina, when she had to stop in January to undergo spinal surgery to repair a herniated cervical disk. While on the mend during the spring and summer, she traveled to Florida by car and then to Guatemala by sailboat to fulfill pre-arranged speaking engagements at Rotary clubs, schools, churches and other venues.

Once fully recovered, she returned to South Carolina Sept. 24 to continue the 1,000 or so miles to Guatemala. She is in Jacksonville, Florida, today.

The route has taken her close to shore from Maine to New Jersey, up the Delaware Bay and down the Chesapeake Bay to Norfolk, Virginia, and along the Intracoastal Waterway to Florida. Once she reaches Key West in February, she will take a boat to Belize to avoid possible armed attacks in Mexico, then paddle along a barrier reef and open coast to Rio Dulce in Guatemala. She expects to arrive in Guatemala City in April.

The money Walters raises will be used to convert Safe Passage’s third- and fourth-grade afterschool program to a full-day educational program, joining the organization’s full-day first- and second-grade programs. She already has raised 97 percent of her $425,000 fundraising goal while covering only 76 percent of the distance — “I may have to raise the goal again,” she says, referring to her original goal of $150,000.

She does not travel with a support team, and camps along the way or stays with fellow Rotarians.

Rotary International recently recognized Walters as one of six Rotary Global Women of Action for her extensive service to the people of Guatemala. In addition to her work with Safe Passage, where she sits on the organization’s board of directors, she also works with two other NGOs — ALDEA and Ripple Effect — in partnership with Rotary to bring clean water, sanitation, health care and education infrastructure to four Guatemalan highland villages.

“I am so humbled to have been selected as the only North American to be honored for my humanitarian service in developing countries,” Walters says of the recognition by Rotary International. “The six women selected are just the tip of the iceberg of women around the world who are working hard to give back and make a difference in the lives of others.”

Walters keeps in touch via a blog and carries a Delorme tracking device that updates her location every 10 minutes.

Those wishing to make a donation to Safe Passage can do so online.