A Water Story
Imagine spending most of your day fetching water as a child instead of going to school. Now imagine doing that as a blind child while navigating past motorcyclists that you can’t see. This was the scary situation that students from the Siaka School for the Blind in Kenya found themselves in. All ten students would walk with an escort to retrieve water from a nearby river.
On days that the escort couldn’t take them to fetch water, these children had to forgo bathing or resort to trying to go to nearby villages.
The guardian of two of these students decided it was time to reach out to Zakat Foundation of America. “This project has saved lives,” said the God-fearing man. “Our kids have gone through hell whenever they used to go to the river to draw water. Motorbikes all over, animals and sometimes rain. These all made it a challenge for our kids. Now they have water and a pump. They can easily pump the water out. They will only need a few days to learn to locate the pump, and everyone would be walking with a stick to the pump to draw water for themselves. I think they are very lucky to be cared for by you.” No longer are kids bathing and washing their clothes in a river. They now have fresh, clean water for the school, and even for the rest of the community. The water isn’t just for drinking either; it’s for domestic and livestock caretaking as well. May Allah reward Zakat Foundation’s donors for every sip of water taken from these wells.”
Your gift of fresh water from afar has impacts beyond your imagination. The donor who dedicated this pump did not know about the blind school children and their desperate condition. This new water source has changed the lives of the whole community for the better. The well has given safety, a sense of love, and normalcy to these children’s lives, no longer do they need to walk treacherous grounds to fetch fresh water, instead, they can spend their time being kids - playing and going to school.
Help a community flourish. Please give to our Water Program here.
