Water Matters

The latest on our work and those supporting it



A Hand Up, Not a Handout: Why Water Access Changes Everything


Wednesday, October 30th, 2024by Jamie Heminway

Imagine it’s morning. You go to brush your teeth, make coffee, or start a shower — but there’s no water. In our modern world, it’s an inconvenience, sure, but it’s solvable. If your tap runs dry, you have options: you can pick up bottled water from a store, head to a friend’s place, or even […]

 

Global Handwashing Day 2024


Wednesday, October 16th, 2024by Jamie Heminway

In honor of yesterday’s Global Handwashing Day, we’re highlighting how we train community members to wash their hands in Western Kenya — and why handwashing is so important.  Often, when we first enter a community, we’ll find that the community hasn’t been washing their hands effectively, as is the case in the video below.  In […]

 

When There Isn’t Enough Water to Stay Clean


Wednesday, October 2nd, 2024by Jamie Heminway

Life without ready access to clean water is tough for many reasons. Without water, it becomes difficult for people to keep themselves and their environments clean. This, in turn, infects people with hygiene-related diseases and hurts people’s dignity and sense of self.

 

What is a scoop hole?


Wednesday, September 25th, 2024by Jamie Heminway

Scoop holes are common where The Water Project works in sub-Saharan Africa, but other parts of the world will likely never have heard of one. Although you can infer a lot from the name itself, it doesn’t tell the whole story. A scoop hole is a shallow hole dug down into the ground to access […]

 

World Water Monitoring Day: How and Why We Monitor Our Water Points


Wednesday, September 18th, 2024by Jamie Heminway

Today, we’re celebrating World Water Monitoring Day — a perfect opportunity to acknowledge all the hard work and planning that go into keeping our water points reliably providing safe water. We currently maintain more than 2,500 water points throughout our service areas in Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, which requires a great deal of forethought […]

 

What We Train Community Members About in Each of Our Service Areas


Wednesday, September 4th, 2024by Jamie Heminway

Providing clean water is only part of what we do at The Water Project. The other part is spreading knowledge about proper hygiene and sanitation methods to reduce disease. Most of what we do to maintain a clean and safe environment requires water: handwashing, washing dishes, personal hygiene, etc. When water is scarce or people […]

 

Is Drinking Water from Refillable Bottles Safe? 


Wednesday, July 3rd, 2024by Jamie Heminway

How often should we really clean our reusable water bottles? And is there a difference in safety between glass, metal, and plastic bottles?

 

Visit to Mugai Dispensary


Wednesday, June 26th, 2024by Jacklyne Chelagat

In every healthcare institution in the world, water is a very precious commodity. Patients frequently visit healthcare facilities daily because of different ailments, and they have to be received in a clean environment. 

But at Mugai Dispensary, it is sad because the healthcare facility has no water, and it is hard for the doctors and nurses to attend to the patients who visit the dispensary every day.

 

How to Wash Your Hands Without Running Water: World Hand Hygiene Day 2024


Wednesday, May 1st, 2024by Jamie Heminway

As camping enthusiasts will tell you, washing your hands without running water takes some thought and practice. In honor of the upcoming World Hand Hygiene Day 2024 on May 5th, we’re showing you how handwashing is done in regions without water readily available at home.  Handwashing, as you might already have learned during a certain […]

 

Water is a Lifeline: Empowering Health Workers in Sub-Saharan Africa


Friday, April 5th, 2024by Jamie Heminway

World Health Worker Week calls for policies to help essential healthcare workers feel “safe and supported.” Where The Water Project works, health workers struggle for safe water.