Earlier on the ONE blog, we shared with you “Be Hope to Her,” a nationwide event put on by Nuru International designed to raise awareness about the need for clean water. Here’s a follow-up on how the event went.
At the end of April, 1,500 college students and young professionals on 23 college campuses, 3 city centers, and one international site took an important walk for clean water.
The event—called “Be Hope to Her” and organized by Nuru International—aimed to show people first-hand what it’s like for the 1.1 billion people in the world who lack access to clean water.
For the event, students, friends and family placed an empty yellow five gallon bucket on their head. Then they carried the bucket through their town or campus to a water source. They filled their buckets with water, and began a journey back with forty pounds of water on their heads.
Each step these men and women took made the statistics we read a reality. They weren’t just hearing about women and girls spending several hours each day gathering water for their families. They weren’t just thinking about what these girls and women were missing out on because of the need to gather water for their families. Extreme poverty was no longer a far-away issue. When these men and women walked, they experienced first-hand what it’s like to deal with extreme poverty—in a way that no statistic or story ever could.
We now have 1500 new storytellers who can not only talk about the millions living in extreme poverty around the world, but can share their own personal story from that day.
These 1,500 young men and women invite you to join in the fight. Visit our website, tell a friend, get involved. Let’s join together and end extreme poverty in our lifetime.
-Billy Williams, Grassroots Movement Director, Nuru International