Maji ni uhai. Whether it’s in Swahili or English or any other language, maji ni uhai – water is life.

Unfortunately, for many living in the developing world, this life-giving resource is only a dream. But that dream is now a reality for the girls at Plateau Girls’ High School on the outskirts of Eldoret, Kenya, thanks to a team of engineering students from West Texas A&M University (WTAMU) located in Canyon, Tx.

In June, the team traveled as part of study abroad program to Eldoret with CRF, accompanied by two professors and one administrator, to install a rainwater harvesting system. Their project represented the culmination of months of preparation and design using information provided by CRF’s Hope Water Africa (HWA) project and gleaned from satellite photography. All along the way, the design, planning and implementation were overseen by the watchful eyes of HWA CEO Peter Keter in Kenya and CRF Vice President Andrew Brown in the U.S.

Before the successful system installation, the Plateau girls were getting their water for washing, cooking and drinking from a nearby river. And while water is life, the river water was also becoming a source of disease, discomfort and intestinal issues due to the increased use of pesticides and herbicides at an upstream flower farm. This was in addition to human and animal waste making its way into the river.

The WTAMU students spent two weeks at the school, installing more than a quarter mile of gutters and six first-flush tanks around the campus capable of storing more than 26,000 gallons of clean water. Back in Canyon, the students are able to monitor the system in real-time. Senior J. T Cavender says he does this daily, “and I think everyone else does too,” a sign of what J.T. calls a “lasting impact” this trip continues to have on the students.


While CRF regularly leads group trips to many of its field locations, the WTAMU project was new for us, combining our clean water and sanitation mission with a university-level Study Abroad program. This allows CRF to not only fulfill its commitment to bring clean water to the thirsty, but also to cultivate hearts of the next generation for service to needy families and communities, and doing it for an eternal purpose. 

WTAMU Professor of Engineering Dr. Nathan Howell may have put it best when he said the hands-on experience allowed the students to not only learn in a way they’ve never learned before. But also to have “their lives transformed in a way that they could never do on just a campus.” 

And CRF is all about transforming lives, not only because “maji ni uhai,” but ultimately because we are offering Maji ya Uzima – the Water of Life.


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