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.
Gidimo Primary School student Valarie K., 15, shared how life was for her and fellow students before we installed a rain tank on their school campus last year. "It was a mandate that every student fetch water for use in school," said Valarie. "Class hours used to be interrupted as students were requested to go fetch water when [the] need did arise...
"Before this project was completed, my mother would send me to the open sources [of water], which were far away within the sugarcane plantations," said 10-year-old Julliet P. "I feared moving alone because sometimes I would encounter snakes and run back home without water. This would really disappoint my mother." The well in Marongo-Kahembe used t...
We asked 16-year-old Pamela A. what life was like for her and her peers before we installed a rain tank at her school last year. "Students used to go to the nearby protected spring to fetch water," Pamela said. "[With the] discharge being low, much time used to be wasted collecting water, as [the spring] was also shared with the community members....
"We had to carry water in jerrycans to school under the scorching sun for several kilometers," said 13-year-old Lucy M., a student at Ndithi Primary School, when recalling what life was like before a rain tank was installed at her school last year. "The water extracted from open scoop holes was contaminated and led to infections such as typhoid, st...
Before we installed a borehole well at Muriola Primary School last year, the students' lives included much more hardship. "We had [a] rough time getting water since we were normally sent to go fetch water from a stream. At times, it was [during] class time," said 13-year-old student Faith K. "Then, sometimes, one could get so thirsty, but the wate...