{"id":248506,"date":"2026-08-05T10:00:00","date_gmt":"2026-08-05T14:00:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/?p=248506"},"modified":"2026-07-28T13:19:21","modified_gmt":"2026-07-28T17:19:21","slug":"what-children-taught-me-about-water","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/2026\/08\/05\/what-children-taught-me-about-water\/","title":{"rendered":"What Children Taught Me About Water"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

“Water is like a child; it always wants to be in motion,” <\/em>wrote Viraj Mahajan.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

We know water changes lives when it flows freely in homes, schools, and communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

When I joined The Water Project about six years ago as a Field Officer, I thought my job would be straightforward: equip communities with the knowledge and skills to manage and sustain water resources. I expected to spend my time implementing WASH projects, protecting springs, supervising borehole drilling, installing hand pumps, facilitating training, supporting water user committees, monitoring projects, and helping advance the UN\u2019s Sustainable Development Goal 6<\/a>.<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

What I never expected was that some of my greatest teachers would be children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Amos working with children<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Listening to Small Voices<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, I’ve paid close attention to children during community assessments, school visits, proposal writing, baseline surveys, monitoring visits, and training. I’ve listened to their voices, no matter how small they seemed.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Children have told me stories of waking up before dawn to fetch water before school. Of walking miles to bring water for school activities. Of missing lessons and games to help teachers or parents collect water. Pupils have described collecting dirty water from passing streams and getting sick, which kept them out of school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They’ve walked with me during proposal writing, showing me how they climb steep slopes down to springs. They’ve crossed busy highways with me, pushed through bushes and over rocks to reach water points.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

They’ve shared painful stories of bullying and false accusations about destroying farms, simply because they were searching for water outside the school compound. Those candid conversations changed how I view my work.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Rethinking My Role<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

As a Training Officer, I realized my role goes beyond delivering content and facilitating training. Every opportunity is a chance to help a parent or teacher understand why spring protection, tank construction, and borehole development matter.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Every discussion with water users should strengthen their ability to keep these resources functional for generations to come. And every lesson shared with children empowers them to become WASH ambassadors in their homes.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Children learning from Amos<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

Witnessing Transformation<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Over the years, I’ve had the privilege of witnessing remarkable transformation. I’ve seen communities celebrate protected springs, school tanks, and newly drilled boreholes, places that were once exposed to unsafe water. We’ve built sanitation facilities in schools that were once closed by the government and later reopened because of our intervention, like Munanga and Mutoto Primary Schools.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I’ve stood, jumped with excitement, and splashed clean water in the air beside newly drilled boreholes as children pumped clean water for the first time. Their excitement reflects hope, joy, and a brighter future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

What Success Really Means<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

These moments have shaped my professional growth. I’ve learned that successful WASH projects are not only measured by the number of tanks constructed, springs protected, or boreholes drilled. True success lies in healthier children, improved school attendance, stronger local capacity to sustain WASH interventions, and empowered communities.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One lesson is clear: infrastructure changes lives, but it is people who sustain change.<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

\"\"
Amos leading training<\/em><\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The Greatest Honor<\/strong><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Looking back, I realize children have quietly shaped the professional I’ve become. Their honesty reminds me why safe water matters. Their smiles at the sight of clean water inspire me every time I step into a school or community. Many children now affectionately call me “uncle.” That is one of the greatest honors my work has given me.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

I take pride in amplifying these small voices, the voices that teach us honestly that every drop counts. Because every drop of clean water carries more than life; it carries hope, education, health, and the promise of a brighter future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\n\n\n\n

Written by Amos Emisiko<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Training Officer<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Water Project<\/em><\/p>\n\n\n\n

Note: Opening quote by <\/em><\/strong>Viraj J. Mahajan<\/em><\/strong><\/a>, author of<\/em> Derivation of Life.*<\/strong><\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

“Water is like a child; it always wants to be in motion,” wrote Viraj Mahajan. We know water changes lives when it flows freely in homes, schools, and communities. When I joined The Water Project about six years ago as a Field Officer, I thought my job would be straightforward: equip communities with the knowledge […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":35727,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[1],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-248506","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-uncategorized"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248506","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/35727"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=248506"}],"version-history":[{"count":1,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248506\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":248511,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/248506\/revisions\/248511"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=248506"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=248506"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=248506"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}