“Water is like a child; it always wants to be in motion,” wrote Viraj Mahajan. We know water changes lives when it flows freely in homes, schools, and communities. When I joined The Water Project about six years ago as a Field Officer, I thought my job would be straightforward: equip communities with the knowledge […]

There’s a monster living in the toilet. It is deep inside the tank. Tiny, invisible, and always hungry. Its whole reason for existing is to eat, and what it eats is the waste we would rather not think about. Okay, in all seriousness: it’s not a monster. But it IS alive, and by the end […]

There is a path on the way to the river that has been walked for so long, nobody can remember who carved it. It’s too narrow for a vehicle. Too winding for an oxcart. It was made by feet, bare feet, mostly small ones carrying something. The path doesn’t know it’s becoming a relic. It […]

There’s a pig in Alice Andeso’s yard, and the pig is the point. The pig is also the part of the story we don’t usually tell. You probably know the story well: Donors fund a well. The well brings clean water. A child goes to school more easily, a household runs more cleanly, illness recedes. […]

How do men, women and children emotionally cope with long-term water insecurity? That is the question I kept asking myself this week as I visited several communities and schools. It reminded me of growing up as a young girl without water in school, and I could connect with the emotional weight the young boys and […]

I am Gladys Akinyi, an assistant hydrogeologist at The Water Project’s Regional Service Hub in Western Kenya. After high school, I studied geoscience, and today my work is to help find water for communities that do not have it. I want to begin by speaking to the young girls who dream of a career like […]

My name is Susan Mueni Kamole, and I currently work as a Water Quality Assurance and Control Officer at The Water Project in Western Kenya. My professional journey has been one of determination, resilience, and a passion for science. Looking back, I can confidently say that every challenge I faced helped shape the person and […]

Arriving at the School On Thursday, May 28th, 2026, I arrived at the office early in the morning, prepared my tools for fieldwork, and left in our car headed to Lukokhko Primary School in Malava, Kenya. It took me around one and a half hours to reach the school. On arrival, I found a school […]

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: The TV hospital story in this blog is purely fictional, but the story set in Sierra Leone is 100% real. Learn more about the health centers mentioned in the story by clicking the links below. Pepel Health Center: https://thewaterproject.org/community/projects/sierra-leone/well-rehabilitation-wash-project-590055 Shivakala Health Center: https://thewaterproject.org/community/projects/kenya/new-borehole-wash-project-410179/ ACT FOUR: When the Water Returns, So Does the Work […]

IMPORTANT DISCLAIMER: The TV hospital story in this blog is purely fictional, but the story set in Sierra Leone is 100% real. Learn more about the health centers mentioned in the story by clicking the links below. Pepel Health Center: https://thewaterproject.org/community/projects/sierra-leone/well-rehabilitation-wash-project-590055 Shivakala Health Center: https://thewaterproject.org/community/projects/kenya/new-borehole-wash-project-410179/ ACT TWO: The Decisions Nobody Should Have to Make INTERIOR […]