Boston Marathon winner and first independent member of Kenyan Parliament, Wesley Korir, spoke at WaterStep Monday night about the importance of safe water in his country and the potential that WaterStep has to make a difference in the future.
Members of the Louisville Metro Police Department and other community members gathered to hear Korir speak about the impact that their upcoming trip to Kenya will have on the communities there. Dr. Bill Smock, WaterStep’s Medical Director, is leading the team of LMPD members to Kenya in November to install M-100 Chlorine Generators.
Smock has worked with WaterStep for over a year now and has found that the best way to decrease the amount of disease spread in developing countries is by providing people with clean water. Up to 80% of disease in the world is attributable to unclean water. Smock said, “The best way to help people is by giving them clean water to drink.”
Korir agreed. He said, “The one thing that has always defeated people is water.” Korir explained that because people do not have access to clean water, they become stuck in sickness and poverty that prevents them from making the next steps towards self sufficiency.
WaterStep’s program not only gives people access to safe water, but empowers them to take ownership of their community’s system. “We empower them with the tools to be able to do it themselves,” Korir said, “When it breaks, you don’t just wait for another person to come and fix it. You fix it yourself.”
The benefits of clean water are extensive, and when WaterStep comes into a new area and teaches locals how to maintain our M-100 Chlorine Generator, they are empowered with better health, more opportunities, and confidence.
Korir said, “A healthy nation becomes a working nation.”
Volunteers learn to repair hand pumps in Kenya – WDRB 41 Louisville News. Click to watch WDRB’s feature on WaterStep’s work with Korir and Smock.
