Pace Students March 1 Mile Through Pleasantville for Tanzania

One hundred twenty Pace University students marched a mile with buckets of water on their heads to reenact the grueling task thousands in the developing world endure each day to provide water for their families Saturday. But the students' burdens were eased knowing $5,000 would be donated to Engineers Without Borders, Northern New Jersey Professional Chapter, to create a community water well in Islanjandugu, Tanzania.

The Walk for World Water, organized by the Pace Academy for Applied Environmental Studies in partnership with Pace Athletics, began at the Pace student center and streamed onto Bedford Road in Pleasantville, where dozens of cars honked their support for the unusual parade. The students, carrying orange buckets high in the air, were led by the university's athletic teams. The water walkers reentered the campus and returned to their starting point, where students were relieved to lower their buckets and ease their aching arms, necks, and shoulders.

The event was also co-sponsored by Pace’s Golden Key International Honour Society, Sigma Iota Chi and Peace and Justice Society. The Home Depot generously provided funding for the buckets.

"Ours was a small effort compared to what happens in some communities throughout the developing world," said Michelle Land, Pace Academy's director. "The task falls to women and children to haul water, often of terrible quality, in some cases as far as four miles. Things we take for granted here, such as a faucet in the home, are beyond their experience." 

"You can tell people stories and show them pictures of what it is like to travel miles for water, but until they do it themselves or travel to these countries, they won't understand," said Chinyere Ojini, project leader for the Tanzania project, and communications specialist for AECOM Technology. "But because of this event, students at Pace now understand what it is like to have to do this every day."

Editor's Note: Chinyere Ojini's title and company name have been corrected.