The Multidimensional Poverty Index estimates 1.6 billion people are living in extreme poverty. Nuru International is an organization that has the ultimate goal of ending extreme poverty by creating an enabling environment where people have the ability to make meaningful choices to create change and a more hopeful future.

Nuru International encourages people to raise money and awareness within communities to fight against extreme poverty. Marshall University student Kati Holland and Marshall alumna Kristan Davis of Huntington want students to be a part of that fight for a more hopeful future.

The Nuru Water Walk shines a light on the hardship of the collection of water in the developing world.

“Women and children can spend hours a day walking miles to get water and sometimes it’s not even clean water,” Davis said. “We think this is a great way to walk in solidarity and put ourselves in someone else’s shoes.”

This event allows students and the public to fill a five-gallon bucket with water and place it on their head, where it will remain for their one-mile journey.

For the past six years, Nuru International has sponsored this walk at Marshall. In the past, the Marshall community has raised $2,000 for Nuru International with just one walk.

Kati Holland hopes for more diversity in the crowd this year.

“In years past, we usually see people about our age come, but we would really like to reach out to the younger and older community,” Holland said.

The walk will take place Saturday, April 8 at 1 p.m. with the suggested donation of $10. T-shirts will be available for $15. To register, people may go to the NURU HWV Facebook page.

Sadie Helmick can be contacted at [email protected].