In Kenya’s drylands, prolonged drought dries up water sources, reduces crop and livestock production, and forces families to travel long distances in search of water. The burden is especially heavy in arid and semi-arid communities, where every drop counts. For the members of Kamutekeo West Twone Mbee Self-Help Group in Mavui Village, Kitui County, water […]

October 8th is DAF Day, a national day for recommending grants from donor-advised funds. Whether you’ve had a DAF for years or are just hearing the term for the first time, here’s how it works and what it can do for clean water. A donor-advised fund, or DAF, is a bit like buying yourself a […]

There are some conversations we grow up learning not to have. Menstruation was one of them. I grew up in Trans Nzoia County, but I attended a boarding high school in Turkana County, a semi-arid region where water was precious. It was there that I got my first period, in Form Three. By then, all […]

For more than 17 years, I had the privilege of knowing and working alongside Ken. In that time, I came to know him not simply as a colleague, but as a friend, a dedicated professional, and a person whose life touched many people. Ken was a hardworking man with a deep passion for his work. […]

The main mission of The Water Project is to help communities gain access to clean and safe water. To achieve this, we protect natural springs, drill boreholes, construct rainwater harvesting tanks in schools, communities, and health centers, and build sand dams that capture rain when it comes. But we’ve learned over the years that construction […]

This is an installment in the ‘Still Reading the Handbook’ blog series featuring new members of our team. I’ve spent much of my career thinking about generosity. What moves us to give, what connects us to one another, and what makes us believe that something better is possible. Now, in my new role at The […]

This is an installment in the ‘Still Reading the Handbook’ blog series featuring new members of our team. “Welcome to the team!” I must have heard it a dozen times my first weeks at The Water Project. From colleagues. From the teams on the ground in Kenya and Uganda and Sierra Leone. Even from our […]

This is an installment in the ‘Still Reading the Handbook’ blog series featuring new members of our team. In the fall of 2025, I began the search for a new job. Though I cast a wide net, I knew in my heart that I wanted to join a non-profit organization. I felt like my work […]

There’s a photograph we take at the end of every project. Water coming out of a new pump. People gathered around it. Somebody laughing. Children splashing water. It’s a great photograph and we’re not going to stop taking it. But it captures an arrival, and the arrival is only half of what your giving does. […]

How many times have you felt sick and thought, “The only place I can get well is the hospital”? I walked to Mugai Health Center with confidence. The moment I entered the compound, the first thing I saw was a beautiful, well-kept borehole. The water point was clean. A community member was fetching water, and […]