The rain was just one small obstacle to overcome by the 70 people that participated in Ball State University's second Be Hope to Her.
Women still took their buckets and walked down McKinley Avenue, simulating women in African communities like Kuria, Kenya, where water is scarce and has to be carried to their homes. Men still stood on the side of the road with signs to raise awareness of poverty in Africa.
The event was sponsored by Nuru. For each individual that signs up for the Be Hope to Her event, an anonymous donor will give $10. The money is sent to communities in Africa to build homes, sanitize water or dig wells.
Billy Williams, director of the grass roots movement at Nuru, said the organization has grown in past months, working with 11 colleges and universities last year to 23 campuses, 3 city centers and one international campus in 2010.
"There are more and more people who, after participating in the event, [the issue] is no longer a statistic for them. Their lives are changed," he said.
From the beginning, junior Jill Jazyk and sophomore Liz Austin had to help each other to place the buckets on their heads. The next task as to walk from LaFollete Field to University Green without spilling any of the water.
This was Jazyk's second time participating in Be Hope to Her. Based on last year's experience, she looked forward to participating this year.
"This is one of the philanthropy events I like the most," she said.
This was Austin's first time taking part in the event.
"My arms already hurt," she said. "I can't imagine doing this three times a day like [some women in Africa] do. We only filled our buckets halfway and the distance we're walking is shorter. We are only doing a third of what they do."
In front of Jazyk and Austin, a girl had to put her bucket down to rest her arms. Alex Perdue, a member of the Nuru team, spilled some water as he tried to keep balance.
"In Africa, this is like a glass of water," he said as more water spilled.
Nuru — which means light in Kiswahili, the language spoken in Kuria — is an international organization that works with colleges across the country to help communities in Africa.
As the group of women arrived to University Green, Austin said she wanted to do it again. She wants to encourage her friends to participate next year.
"I'm going to go back to my chapter and I'm going to go tell everybody," she said.
She said she was glad to see the number of people show up to participate despite the rain.
"It's raining, it's Sunday and turnout is just amazing," she said. "I'm just really happy to be a part of it."
Perdue said although not many people showed up, the event was still a success.
"The rain was kind of a factor, but it was really good," he said. "The rain made it more hard, but it also made it realistic."
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