"Clean Water is a Continuous Supply of Life"

Last year, your gift unlocked the potential for a brighter future for Mary Opala. Since then, she and the Shanderema Community of 140 residents have had clean, reliable water. Your contribution has made a significant impact. Thank you for making a difference!

"I now feel like my body has healed, because every time I look at myself in a mirror, I appear young and strong. Indeed, I rarely get sick from consuming water from the spring, because it is safe," declared Mary.

Before the Spring Protection

Like many women in Western Kenya, 55-year-old Mary Opala is responsible for collecting water to meet her daily water needs. Before last year’s water intervention, this task stole her time and negatively affected her.

Community members collecting water before the spring was protected.

Drinking the water caused severe consequences. Many in the community suffered from waterborne diseases that created health problems, affecting their daily lives. Limited accessibility also meant people wasted time collecting sufficient water to meet their needs. The difficult journey to collect water sapped their physical and emotional energy, creating roadblocks. Ms. Opala could only collect a small amount of water with a great deal of effort. The water she collected often made her and her family suffer from water-related illnesses.

"Getting water from this waterpoint before it was completed was more of a struggle than [the] normal way of just placing a container below the pipe and allowing water to fill up. Fetching water with many people scrambling for the available little water during low seasons of the rain was hectic and required patience in order to have at least some water at home," said Ms. Opala.

Since the Spring Protection

Your generous gift last year was much more than a simple donation; it was a powerful statement about your commitment to this community and Ms. Opala’s future. By supporting the water solution, you made clean water an everyday reality, fostering hope for a brighter future.

Reliable and clean water lays the groundwork for improved health, education, and economic possibilities, allowing people to thrive. We frequently hear from those we interview that "water is life!"

Ms. Opala celebrates clean water.

"Living with clean water is a circuit of continuous supply of life, because you are connected to a source that does not run dry [or] put the lives of many in danger. With clean water, we are free from hygiene-related issues, our children are clean, and we drink safe water," Ms. Opala shared.

Ms. Opala works in her garden, which is successful thanks to clean water.

"I am proud that now everything I do is easy because I have clean water. Sometimes, life can be so difficult without water because for you to operate smoothly during the day, water must be provided in abundance," she exclaimed.

The Future is Looking Bright!

A year ago, you made a difference for Ms. Opala and the rest of his community. This is just the first chapter of their story as access to clean water continues to improve their lives!

At The Water Project, we value sustainability and want to ensure that people continue to thrive. We commit to monitoring this project to ensure the water is always flowing and safe to consume. We inspect the system hardware, track water availability, conduct sanitary inspections, and collect water quality samples to identify risks. We work with our team on the ground to resolve them.

You gave Ms. Opala a crucial tool for achieving her dreams: access to clean water. Together, we can excitedly expect that with this precious resource, her enthusiasm and courage will help Ms. Opala fulfill her dreams.

"If it were not for this water, other responsibilities under my duty as a mother and a wife would have stopped. The assurance of access to reliable water from the spring has enabled me to concentrate more on my farm to produce enough food for the family, as well as earn some money from the proceeds and pay [school] fees for my children," Ms. Opala concluded.