TheCUBE’s Jeff Frick recently spoke with EMC’s Senior Associate of Data Insights Pui Chi Wong and Charity: Water’s Makena Cunningham, Corporate Partnerships Associate, at EMC World 2014. The conversation focused on the partnership between EMC and Charity: Water as a part of the EMC Gives Back initiative.

At EMC World 2014, EMC set up an EMC Gives Back charity booth in conjunction with Charity: Water. The goal of this initiative focuses on building wells in Ethiopia. Each well has the capacity to provide water for 250 people in a community. And with 800 million people worldwide not having access to clean water, every little bit helps.

When asked what the normal distances women and children had to walk to get clean water, Cunningham responded, “It depends. Three hours is kind of the average time, and it’s not uncommon to hear of people walking for eight hours.”

The goal of Charity: Water is to raise the funds necessary to build wells closer to communities, reducing the walking time to access water down to only 30 minutes. With each well costing roughly $10,000 to build, every penny raised means that many more wells can be built. The Charity: Water booth at EMC World 2014 had the goal of donating $5 per person that does the water walk, looking to reach $10,000 unlocked per day. The company also takes part in a Water Walk, where they take on the water weight, around 80 pounds, that women and children must carry in Ethiopia, but for only 30 seconds.

In the first two days alone, EMC and Charity: Water raised close to $50,000, looking to raise more with this important program. “Some people actually want to walk around multiple times to unlock as much as they can towards Charity: Water,” Wong said, adding to Brocade’s lump sum donation of $25,000.

According to Wong, “It’s interesting to see people here do the water walk. You have these big, strong men, six feet tall, and they’ll do the 30 feet. And they’re like, this is hard. Imagine being a woman or child having to do this every day. So, it’s an experience that stays with you. So next time you’re taking a shower or just taking a sip out of a water bottle, think about how people around this world, 800 million people, have to walk these distances because they don’t have that clean water. It’s nice for EMC to be part of the solution.”

Easy access to water allows community members in Ethiopia focus on more important things, such as school and taking care of things at home, basically allowing them to become more productive and healthier. If you wish to donate to Charity: Water, see here for details.

See Wong’s entire segment below: