Mwalimu William Karisa came to the U.S. from Kenya on the State Department’s Kennedy-Lugar Youth Exchange and Study (YES) Program and was hosted in Blue Grass, IA for the 2011-2012 school year. One day while visiting Washington D.C., Mwalimu noticed a lovely fountain. Though few people took much notice of it, for Mwalimu, that fountain represents his dream – clean water for his village on the coastal region of Kenya. The water in that city fountain is cleaner than the water the people of his village drink, and they may walk far as four miles or more each day to get it.

The idea for Mwalimu’s dream to bring fresh water to his coastal Kenyan community was born late last summer when he arrived in the U.S. He began "looking at the differences that we have" and realized that water was one of them.

Where people in the U.S. can turn on a faucet and have a ready stream of fresh clean water, the miles long walk in the hot Kenyan sun brings people in Mwalimu’s village to a large man-made “dam” or pit carved into the red dirt.

These dams are riddled with diseases like Malaria, which Mwalimu has contracted several times, and they dry up after about three months of use. Once a dam dries up, people must walk further to get to the next dam that still contains water.

Mwalimu shared his dream first with his host family in Blue Grass, and then with his fellow exchange students, classmates, teachers, church community and finally the larger community of the Quad-Cities region of Iowa. Once people heard about the conditions people in his village face, and also heard him speak passionately about his dream, they were eager to pitch in.

No matter how large a task funding this well may seem, "I don't believe in failure," Mwalimu said. “I know it can be done," he said. "I know I can do it." $25,000 in estimated costs is indeed a daunting figure, but with the help of his community in the U.S., Mwalimu has been able to raise an astounding $22,825 to date. As a result of this fundraising success, Mwalimu, who returned to Kenya in late June, has been able to use the donated funds and to begin digging a well in his village, and on July 27, 2012, water was struck!

The digging and engineering of the well still needs to be completed - but just seeing the water come up out of the “dry ground” of Mwalimu’s community inspired all who were there to witness it. His community rejoiced and called it a “miracle,” and while it may seem like a miracle to the community, we know that it was all thanks to the hard work of Mwalimu and the support of his local coordinator, fellow exchange students and, of course, his home communities in the Quad Cities and Kenya!

Mwalimu would like to thank his host family, Mark and Dawn Thompson, Pastor Joshua from his host family’s church, and his Local Coordinator, Deb Bowen, for helping him to raise the needed funds to fulfill his dream. He also thanks his fellow U.S. high school students and exchange students in his community for their support. He says “This team effort [with exchange students from around the world] to dig a well proves it’s a small world!”