Bringing Hope to East Africa
WaterStep field consultants have been very active over the last 18 months, diligently working to reach communities in landlocked Kenya, Uganda and Tanzania. Paul Owino, Raphael Wanjala and Humphrey Muchuma have been working together to impact as many people as possible with their life-saving training and equipment. Paul Owino said, “COVID-19 has changed our approach. Before, we had to go searching for people and plead with them to listen to us. Now, people are scared of getting sick and they come looking for us. They come looking for hope.”
WaterStep’s Director of Missions and International Partnerships, Claudia Daniels, said, “Each of these men have unique gifts they bring to the table. Paul is our businessman. Humphrey likes to approach corporations and hospitals and Raphael likes to go into the most remote areas to help people.”
Paul runs a WaterStep BleachMaking business out of Kisumu, Kenya. He started the business as a pilot program two years ago and it has become extremely successful. So much so, that in 2019, he built a brand new production and training facility to house his business. The new space came just in time, as the pandemic created the need for massive amounts of disinfectant. Paul said, “We went from producing 500 liters of disinfectant each day to 1500 liters per day. We use the new 20 liter BleachMaker so we can continue to make disinfectant, even while we are sleeping.” A local woman is pictured above, happily accepting her disinfectant delivery.
In addition to providing disinfectant to his own community, Paul has a goal of reaching 50 rural villages with safe water and sanitation by the end of 2021. He has built a team of Business Champions to help him reach this goal. At the end of 2019, Paul had 14 employees who were selling disinfectant in Kenya. Currently, he employs 230 Business Champions! This growth has come with the increased knowledge in the community about the need for disinfectant to keep families healthy. These Business Champions are also making a solid income to support themselves and their families. One of Paul’s employees is pictured above with Paul, preparing to make his disinfectant deliveries via motorcycle.
Thank you, Paul, for all you do to make healthier communities and spread the word about safe water and sanitation. Your work is having a huge impact in East Africa and you are an essential part of WaterStep Nation!