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Who We Are

Water is Life Kenya (WILK) is a 501(c)(3) registered nonprofit (Tax ID number: 26-3185829).  Founded by Joyce Tannian of Newark, Delaware and Joseph Larasha of Kenya, WILK is a US-based charitable organization who operates with boots on the ground in Kajiado County, Southern Kenya.  For 15 years years WILK has worked primarily with indigenous Maasai people in southern Kenya.  What began as an effort to install water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) projects has evolved into a model for just development.

Our mission is to spark personal, economic, and community development in marginalized communities in Kenya, according to existing customs and culture, by providing clean water, sanitation, and hygiene, empowering women, and equipping people to develop income through improved resource management.

We support these indigenous communities through the following programs:

  • Clean Water Projects: We have completed 25 clean water projects, bringing water to 70,000 people
  • Livestock As A Business: Through this training and microloan program, we support pastoralists with the business skills necessary to increase incomes, thereby ensuring water supplies stay on
  • Hope For Widows: Begun in 2021, the Hope for Widows program is a subset of LAB which works to give support to those most in need - widowed members of our communities
  • Beaded Handicrafts: The third primary program of WILK is to support local Kenyan artisans with the means to increase incomes.  Our Fairtrade certified Beaded Handicrafts division pays fair wages to bead makers, and profits from all jewelry and handicraft sales go back to fund clean water projects.

Our philosophy is simple: we don't do for others what they can do for themselves.  Rather, we support communities to be able to have clean water, manage their water supply, and sustain themselves over the long run.  By empowering local people with more than water - with incomes, livelihoods, and dignity - they are more prepared to face a changing world.

Learn more about WILK by visiting our Main Site.

Follow us on social @waterislifekenya