World Vision Magazine // Blog

Instead of walking two miles for water, Sabina now has clean water at home.

Sabina Riwo now has a water spigot at her home (Abby Metty/WV)

On my latest international trip, besides my normal two-week allotment of camera gear, socks, and granola bars, I had also packed a thick stack of World Vision magazines.

I was headed to Marich Pass, a small community in northwest Kenya’s Rift Valley, where World Vision magazine chronicled the story of a woman named Sabina who walked two miles every day, carrying 70 pounds of water for her family. Sabina’s photo graces the cover of our Spring 2011 issue, which focuses on water. Since my team would be visiting the same area, our magazine staff had asked me to take a few copies for the World Vision office there, hoping that they would eventually reach Sabina and her family.

What I didn’t expect was for Moses, the community manager, to tell us that we’d be able to give the magazines to Sabina and meet her face-to-face.

Sabina now smiles because she no longer has to walk two miles carrying 70 pounds of water. (Abby Metty/WV)

Just two weeks prior, Sabina and her neighbor, Christina, had each received water spigots in their backyards, providing clean water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and irrigation. Moses was eager for us to see this for ourselves.

Sabina’s megawatt smile makes her look like a celebrity. She greeted us with a huge grin and sang songs as she filled buckets of water from her new spigot. She and her family were excited to see their story in the magazine and in a video on Moses’ laptop.

The local World Vision staff had brought a case of soda to share, and a dozen kids gathered around just as the sun was setting. The village elders and Sabina’s family drank Cokes under the stars and watched a video in a language they didn’t understand. But Sabina knew the story well—of one small spigot that had turned her whole life around.

That spigot means that her children can go to school. “They won’t be late,” Sabina told me. “They will be clean always.”

That spigot means that her family can have good food, because she has the water and the time to tend a garden. “Water is now near,” Sabina’s husband Jacob said. “We can grow vegetables and maize.”

That spigot means that their animals won’t die of thirst.

And the bonus for a hardworking mom? Sabina said her back doesn’t ache like it used to.

“Thank you very much,” Sabina said. “We are seeing the goodness of this place.”

Sabina (center), and her family and friends see the World Vision magazine featuring her story. (Abby Metty/WV)