Like Simon Sinek says, organizations should start with "WHY" they operate. As a believer in this mode of thought I'd like to share my personal "WHY" for this project… Why EWB, why Kipingi and why water. (I hope to have all the other members of the project team share their why over the coming days.)This is a picture of some of the students at the Machicha Primary and Secondary school outside Kipingi. At the moment, they have no reliable source of water within 4km of the school and have to go home during the lunch period to fetch water for the remainder of the day. The opportunity to help this community supply itself with something so basic as clean water that will have such a big impact on the lives of these students is amazing.
The philosophy of Engineers Without Borders is strongly community based, which is one of my favorite things about the group. We are focused on ensuring that the community is prepared to maintain the well and keep it clean and serviceable long after we are gone. In fact, we're on our way right now along with Ishmael from Kipingi to talk to the Water Ministry about a training program to help prepare the village to take full ownership of their well. This is their project that we are working on WITH them, not something we are doing FOR them. That's one of the things that makes EWB different and one of the reasons that I'm here.
So that's a little about my "WHY" -- Water is the cornerstone to build upon, and working with rather than for communities. And no matter how discouraged I can get or how difficult the projects can be, seeing the children is a community like Kipingi always refreshes my enthusiasm.
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