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 […]

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 center mentioned in the story by clicking the link below. Pepel Health Center: https://thewaterproject.org/community/projects/sierra-leone/well-rehabilitation-wash-project-590055 FADE IN. INTERIOR – GLEAMING HOSPITAL — DAWN A camera sweeps down a polished […]

Bernedetta Mwikali calls her tomato patch a source of pride. She says it plainly, the way someone uses a word they had to wait a long time to say honestly. In Kilela, until clean water arrived, the things she might have been proud of (like a strong harvest, a well-fed family, or a stall at […]

My visit to Southeastern Kenya was one of a kind. This was my second time visiting the southeast, and things looked so different. The first time I visited the communities there, it was dry and dusty. Community members were fetching water from scoop holes, some carrying water with carts and bicycles, and others on their […]