In an area called Kapkemich, Kenya, there is a Catholic Girls School called St. Anne’s School for Girls.

Kapkemich, a rural community in western Kenya, is located near the equator where much of the population lives in poverty surviving on subsistence farming.  The weather is mild with temperatures ranging from mid-50s to mid-90s F with two rainy seasons.  There is minimal or no electricity in homes.  Running water is not available and many obtain water from potentially polluted sources.  Job opportunities have long been bleak in the area and this lack of work has had great social impact. Alcoholism and drug addiction are major concerns.  Education beyond the 8th grade is not funded fully by the government; families are expected to pay part of the cost which many cannot afford.  In such cases, families choose to educate their sons rather than their daughters. 

Friends of St. Anne’s Girls’ School Fund-Kenya (FOSA), a 501(c)(3) nonprofit was established in 2010 to support equal education opportunities in Kapkemich, Kenya and the surrounding area with the primary focus on educating young women.  The FOSA board of directors in collaboration with our management team in Kapkemich recognized that the area was medically under-served.  Thanks to a generous, designated donation in 2016, FOSA funded construction of a clinic building. The clinic applied for and received community-based organization (CBO) status from the Kenyan government in March 2017.  The clinic opened in July 2017 and provides care 24/7.  The Virginia Wright Health Clinic Fund (VWHC Fund) was designated a 501(c)(3) in the United States in May 2019 and supports the clinic’s mission.

With the help of our new friends in the United States (Ruth Schukman-Dakotas and Abby Clem-Beeman), Agua Viva has had the privilege of executing a Covenant, signed and sealed by Father Anthony Kiplagat, to provide Purified Drinking Water to this community. Our In-Country Coordinator, Mbaja Wagome Minene, made the 12 hour trip from Mwanza, Tanzania, to Kapkemich, Kenya, and met with Ms. Lydia Kageha, Public Health Outreach Coordinator, and discussed “possibilities and dreams”.

This community was a perfect match. Serving a large number of women with emphasis on Health and Hygiene, and in a very large community with NO access to purified drinking water, Agua Viva will provide a golden opportunity for improved health and a new potential source of income for these wonderful women!