About 25 students learned about the strength of women in developing countries when they carried buckets of water across campus Monday.
By carrying the five-gallon buckets on their heads, students empathized with women in developing nations who do this daily.
The walk was hosted by a nonprofit dedicated to ending extreme poverty. Organizers aimed to inform people about the importance of clean water in impoverished countries, said Lindsay Gehrls, public relations spokeswoman for the event.
Participants watched a short film about water sanitation before carrying the empty yellow five-gallon buckets from the Plaza of the Americas, past Turlington Plaza and across the Reitz Union North Lawn to Riker Hall.
At Riker Hall, they filled their buckets with water from a blow-up pool and walked back before pouring the water into a plastic container on the Plaza of the Americas, Gehrls said.
The water will be disposed of in an environmentally friendly way, Gehrls said.
Joyce Liu, who walked in the event, poured some water out of her bucket due to the weight of it.
“It was really heavy, and I think that it gave me only a small insight on what these women and children go through,” Liu said.
The event was sponsored by Krave, a student group that talks about life and faith. It raised $300 from donations online and through the walk. Money raised from the event will go toward Nuru International’s water sanitation initiative. Last year, Krave raised enough funds to build four wells in Kenya.
Robby Rassel, president of Krave, wants people to appreciate how they get their water.
”I think a lot of people take for granted the life we have in America, and [they should] know it’s not like that all over the world,” Rassel said.
Sereen Gualtieri, a recent UF graduate, did not expect carrying the buckets would be difficult.
“When I first signed up for it, I wasn’t expecting it to be bad, but a lot of sweat and muscle went into it,” Gualtieri said.
