This week, Engineers Without Borders aimed to educate the ISU and Ames community about the issue of poverty in and outside of America with Poverty Awareness Week.
It started on Monday outside Parks Library with a water walk organized by Engineers Without Borders member Ha Lim Jeong, sophomore in mechanical engineering. Participants pumped water into a five gallon bucket and carried the water-filled bucket on top of their heads through an obstacle course to simulate the struggles of getting water in parts of Africa.
“We don’t really have a grasp of what people live like,” said Kelsey Brandt, junior in chemical engineering and member of Engineers Without Borders. “People don’t seem to want to point it out.”
Brandt said some people in Africa walk miles several times a day in order to get water.
Jeong, who mentors freshman in the Engineers Without Borders program, created the water walk so students could see and experience the struggle to get water in other countries.
“A lot of Americans aren’t aware of [poverty],” Jeong said.
Read the full story here.