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What We Do
Founded in 2007 by Joyce Tannian of Newark, Delaware and Joseph Larasha of Kenya, Water is Life Kenya (WILK) is a IRS designated 501 (C) (3) nonprofit dedicated to bringing clean, accessible water to the Maasai people in drought-prone rural communities in Southern Kenya. By cultivating relationships in each community and working in partnership with local residents, WILK has completed 24 projects in 18 communities transforming the lives of more than 55,000 people.
WILK also manages a Livestock as a Business Program (LAB) in partnership with the Kenyan Ministry of Livestock. Through LAB, the people of Southern Kenya receive training and financial support to improve livestock management. The sale of healthy cows is a critical income generator for the Maasai people. WILK also includes a beaded jewelry program certified by the Fair Trade Federation. Kenyan families receive direct income and gain self-confidence by having regularly paid, creative work. All profits go to support WILK water projects in Kenya. Click on the links below to learn more about these three distinct but complementary programs. Learn more about our Clean Water Projects Learn more about our Livestock as a Business Learn more about our Beaded Handicrafts |
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Our work is guided by 4 key values:
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Water is Life
Water is precious and necessary for life. In communities where water is far away, women often spend 4-8 hours every days walking for water. When the only available water is dirty, people spend time being sick with water borne diseases like cholera, amoebic dysentery, and typhoid.
Water: Average Conditions in southern Kenya
*Average distance to water: 4 miles
*Average rainfall: 15 inches/year
*Average time spent fetching water: 4 hours a day per family
*Diseases caused by fouled water: Diarrhea, Typhoid, Cholera
*Livestock losses during 2008-2010 drought: up to 80% of the total cattle herd
Water is precious and necessary for life. In communities where water is far away, women often spend 4-8 hours every days walking for water. When the only available water is dirty, people spend time being sick with water borne diseases like cholera, amoebic dysentery, and typhoid.
Water: Average Conditions in southern Kenya
*Average distance to water: 4 miles
*Average rainfall: 15 inches/year
*Average time spent fetching water: 4 hours a day per family
*Diseases caused by fouled water: Diarrhea, Typhoid, Cholera
*Livestock losses during 2008-2010 drought: up to 80% of the total cattle herd
When clean water is available close by:
- The heavy burden on women’s time and energy is removed.
- Women have more time for income-generating activities, such as bead work. To read more about Water is Life Kenya’s Beaded Handicraft Income Generation Project click here.
- Health improves for all: humans, their livestock, and wild animals.
- Women are comfortable allowing their main helpers, their daughters, attend school – often for the first time.
What’s next in the community?
Money is required to sustain any water project. Money is needed to pay for fuel to operate the pump, for the borehole operator, for repairs, and for maintenance. Thus each family must have money to pay their share of the community water fees. Since most community members are Maasai livestock-keepers, their income comes from livestock. So we developed a training and microloan program called “Livestock as a Business” to help increase incomes. We use indigenous knowledge combined with best practices to teach ways to increase the profits earned by livestock keepers.
Read more about our successful Livestock as a Business Program here.
History of the Area where WILK works:
For centuries, the Maasai people herded livestock throughout modern-day Tanzania and Kenya. Today, the Maasai remain a symbol of traditional culture and pride, with their shield and spear pictured on the Kenyan flag. However, their communities regularly suffer from lack of clean water.
Traditionally nomads, the Maasai were pushed to semi-arid lands during Kenyan independence, losing access to more productive lands. Land was given to groups or individuals in small parcels, limiting the territory any individual could use to manage their livestock. In Southern Kenya, Amboseli National Park was created in 1974 around many of the local water sources. The Maasai people living on the land were moved, promised a new water source, and forgotten.
A combination of limited government-initiated infrastructure, limited access to sustainable pasture, and a history of mistreatment and marginalization, has created a water crisis for the people living in Southern Kenya.
WILK is committed to supporting local communities access the water they need, so their lives can be productive, fruitful, and filled with opportunity for current and future generations.
For centuries, the Maasai people herded livestock throughout modern-day Tanzania and Kenya. Today, the Maasai remain a symbol of traditional culture and pride, with their shield and spear pictured on the Kenyan flag. However, their communities regularly suffer from lack of clean water.
Traditionally nomads, the Maasai were pushed to semi-arid lands during Kenyan independence, losing access to more productive lands. Land was given to groups or individuals in small parcels, limiting the territory any individual could use to manage their livestock. In Southern Kenya, Amboseli National Park was created in 1974 around many of the local water sources. The Maasai people living on the land were moved, promised a new water source, and forgotten.
A combination of limited government-initiated infrastructure, limited access to sustainable pasture, and a history of mistreatment and marginalization, has created a water crisis for the people living in Southern Kenya.
WILK is committed to supporting local communities access the water they need, so their lives can be productive, fruitful, and filled with opportunity for current and future generations.