An estimated 764,000 children and adults live with some degree of cerebral palsy, a chronic condition that affects body movement and muscle coordination.

Messiah College track student-athlete Stevie Baum is one of them. But that hasn’t stopped her from continually besting her personal times in the 200-, 400- and 800-meter races each year of high school and in her two seasons with the Falcons.

Nor has it kept her from playing a key role in a university project to ensure that physically disabled people a world away have access to water and sanitation facilities.

According to United Cerebral Palsy, cerebral palsy is caused by damage to one or more specific parts of the brain and usually occurs during fetal development; before, during or after birth; or in infancy.

Baum, who was born with the condition, said she wanted to be involved in a sport, and although she did play basketball, she prefers track. She also wanted to be involved in the three-year Mali (Africa) Water and Disabilities Study through Messiah’s Collaboratory, a center that houses the college’s service learning programs and forms strategic research partnerships.

Baum met Ray Norman, the study’s advisor, while walking to class one day during her freshman year.

“He saw me in the hall and told me about the project and asked me to join the group,” she recalled. “I was thinking this guy is crazy, this is my first week in college and he wants me to be a part of a group already. I said I’d go to the first meeting so he wouldn’t hate me for all four years of college, and I really liked what they were doing with the project.”

Launched in 2005-06, the project is designed to assess access to and use of water and sanitation facilities by the disabled and elderly in communities served by World Vision Mali and the West Africa Water Initiative. Baum is part of the water transport team, which is charged with developing devices to make it easier for the disabled to carry water from a pump or well to their homes.

Baum joins about a dozen other students who dedicate several hours a week to the project. She also traveled to Mali last summer to participate in field work related to the study. Early on, Norman was concerned about how well Baum would endure the trip to the under-resourced West African nation. Temperatures soar into the 120s and all the travel is done by four-wheel drive vehicles, which are challenging for her to climb in and out of.

“But after I saw the ease with which she handled the trip, including the rigorous all-terrain travel, long walks and occasional jogs in the desert, I knew my initial worry was unfounded,” Norman said.

Baum did more than endure. She shined. Norman designated her as the spokesperson for the project while they were in the field. Her assignment: to talk to as many disabled individuals as she could, listen to their stories and ask how she could help. The mission was a tough one given that in Mali and throughout Africa, people with disabilities are looked upon as unimportant and are often hidden in back rooms or dark corners of family homes. Consequently, they are wary of strangers.

However, Baum won over each person she met in pursuit of her goal.

 “I was a little nervous because of the language barrier,” Baum said of her role as spokesperson. “I explained my disability and told them how I overcame it.”

Baum also has inspired and motivated her teammates, coaches, teachers and others at Messiah as evidenced by her selection last year as the recipient of the Middle Atlantic States Collegiate Athletic Corporation Giant Steps Award. As part of the nomination for the honor, track teammate Jennifer Mason wrote about Baum’s influence.

“Every day Stevie is on time to practice, does everything that the rest of us do, and never complains about it,” Mason said.

Although she hopes to return to Mali this summer, Baum carries the memories of the people she met on her first trip. “Now at home, when we’re doing work with the project, I know personally who I’m helping,” she said.

Baum is an elementary education major at Messiah.