Stories from the Field
As we work to provide water, we're committed to helping people like you meet your global neighbors and to realize that we all share the same basic needs. We hope to break down stereotypes and the false distinctions between the so-called winners and losers, rich and poor, the needy and charitable, by introducing you to the people we serve with the respect and admiration they rightfully deserve.
These are stories of hope, told in the words of those who carry out this work every day - our friends in the field.
A Year Later: No Waiting and No Illnesses!
Before we protected the spring in Bukhakunga, people were plagued by water-related illnesses and time-eating queues at their water point. For kids like 13-year-old Even, the queues were the worst problem, because they made fetching water take up most of their spare time. "Adults could overtake children like me in the queue, and there was nothing ...
A Year Later: "I am not giving up."
Before our intervention a year ago, the people of Bukhakunga were constantly ill from drinking their spring's dirty water. "I used to get sick often and missed going to school, which affected my results negatively," explained 17-year-old Rose W. "At home, you could see panicking and stress all over my parents' faces whenever one [was] sick, just b...
A Year Later: "Life has become easy."
Before we installed a high-capacity rain tank at Kako Special School for the Mentally Handicapped, students would line up to fetch water in the mornings only to find that the school's small rain tank was empty. “Initially, we experienced a lot of challenges pertaining [to] water," said 18-year-old Mutisya. "Drinking water was not always availabl...
A Year Later: Water is available all the time!
The students at Friends Kaimosi Special Primary School used to be sent to collect water from a local spring, but the trip was daunting and impossible for some of the students facing more serious physical challenges. And the water students collected often made them sick, causing them to miss valuable learning time in class. "Previously, to get wate...
A Year Later: No more hating life!
The students of St. Teresa Emakhwale Primary School used to carry water to school each morning and then leave their school campus again during the day to collect more water from a source several miles away. They were exhausted and missing valuable learning time. "Going to the river was quite tedious and risky," said 10-year-old student Laureen S. ...