Water is Life Kenya

“Magis for Maji” World Water Day Walk

Spring 2025

Fellow: Julia Noone

Evie Holder, Tierney Bisch, Ximena Gonzalez , Jessica Rago, and Daniela Lavergne

Read our 2025 Community Partner report.

Community Partner

This semester, the Magis for Maji group is partnering with Aaron Lemma, Director of US Operations, to support the efforts of Water is Life Kenya. The mission of this organization is to support access to clean water, health, and education for marginalized Kenyan communities. Driven by the unending barriers Maasai communities face to gain accessible water, Water is Life Kenya focuses on rebuilding these communities so women do not have to walk about eight miles a day to access fundamental human needs. By creating intentional projects that directly support these communities, the organization supports the personal, economic, and community development of the Maasai people. The Magis for Maji group collaboration aims to amplify these efforts by raising awareness on campus and organizing initiatives that contribute to sustainable solutions for water scarcity in the region.

Design Question

How can we raise awareness about water insecurity in Kenya and increase student participation in Water is Life Kenya’s Magis for Maji walk through digital storytelling and on-campus outreach?

This guiding question shaped every stage of our project. We aimed to spotlight the urgent issue of water inaccessibility in Kenyan communities while fostering social justice awareness at Saint Joseph’s. Collaborating closely with WILK representative Aaron Lemma, we crafted a strategic outreach plan rooted in storytelling, social media engagement, and campus presence.

Our most effective initiative was the sale of handmade Kenyan bracelets—used as both a fundraising tool and a conversation starter. We held three bracelet sales in high-traffic areas, combining tangible support with educational dialogue. This strategy, paired with tabling events and face-to-face outreach, helped drive participation and deepen campus engagement.

Ultimately, our efforts brought 50 participants to the walk and raised over $1,500, proving the power of a clear design question to unify action and impact.

Strategic Thinking

We grounded our project in two core goals: raising awareness about water insecurity in Kenya and increasing student participation in the Magis for Maji walk. From the start, we used Simon Sinek’s Golden Circle framework (“Start with Why”) to guide our strategy. His idea—that “people don’t buy what you do, they buy why you do it” (Sinek, 2010)—helped us shape a values-driven campaign rooted in purpose. Aaron Lemma, our community partner, modeled this “why” through his deep commitment to WILK’s mission, inspiring us to connect our own motivations to the broader cause.

This framework shaped how we communicated and designed every touchpoint of our campaign. Our messaging always circled back to the "why"—clean water as a human right—and from there we articulated "how" we would reach students and "what" actions we wanted them to take.

In addition, we applied insights from the article “How Nonprofits Design Data Reports” to create consistent, mission-aligned visual content. We selected a color palette and typography that reflected WILK’s tone and identity, using these elements across flyers, graphics, and stickers. By maintaining visual consistency, we made the Magis for Maji logo more recognizable on campus and strengthened the sense of cohesion in our outreach. Together, these strategic choices supported a unified, compelling campaign designed to resonate both emotionally and visually.

Co-Creation

From the beginning, our partnership with Water is Life Kenya was rooted in trust, transparency, and shared purpose. Rather than approaching the project as something we were doing for the community, we embraced the principle of designing with our community partner. Our collaboration with Aaron Lemma exemplified this co-creative spirit: through formal planning meetings and ongoing communication, we cultivated a rhythm of mutual respect and responsiveness. His insight shaped both the strategy and the storytelling, allowing us to align closely with WILK’s mission and values.

Co-creation, as defined by the National Equity Project, means “we build with and not for others”—a principle we held close. We viewed community-based knowledge as central, not supplementary, to our approach. Our plan of action emerged through shared dialogue, where goals were negotiated collaboratively and grounded in the lived expertise of WILK’s work in Kenya.

We recognized that the success of the Magis for Maji walk depended on more than logistics—it depended on people. From bracelet sales to tabling events, we created opportunities for learning, presence, and action. This wasn’t just a student project—it was a partnership built on reciprocity, where everyone involved contributed to something larger than themselves.

Impact Story

On April 4, 2025, the Saint Joseph’s community came together for the Magis for Maji Walk, a student-led initiative in partnership with Water is Life Kenya. The event drew over 50 participants and raised more than $1,500 through donations and the sale of handmade Kenyan bracelets—funds that will directly support the installation of clean water systems in rural Kenyan villages. These systems will significantly reduce the hours women and children spend walking for water, improving health outcomes and creating new opportunities for education and economic advancement.

The event was made even more meaningful by the presence of Joyce Tannian, founder and executive director of Water is Life Kenya, who offered a powerful speech about the everyday realities of water scarcity and the resilience of the communities she serves. Her stories transformed statistics into lived experience, making the issue deeply personal for attendees.

Beyond fundraising, the walk sparked a sense of shared purpose across campus. Students, faculty, families, and local community members came together—not just to participate, but to learn, connect, and commit to a cause larger than themselves. The handmade bracelets became more than just tokens—they became symbols of solidarity, storytelling, and global citizenship. In just one afternoon, the walk demonstrated how grassroots action and collaborative partnerships can generate real, lasting impact.

Reflection

This project taught us not only about the mission of Water is Life Kenya, but also about the power of community. Our partner, Aaron Lemma, worked with deep intention to build a lasting bridge between WILK and Saint Joseph’s—motivated by a desire to stay connected to a place he cares deeply about. Through this collaboration, we learned that people are willing to show up when they understand the cause and feel invited into something meaningful.

We also discovered that successful outreach requires personal connection. Reaching out to individual students, clubs, and campus groups helped create momentum and made the event feel truly inclusive. For future teams, we recommend continuing this grassroots approach—engaging new allies, building partnerships, and growing recognition of the Magis for Maji walk as an annual tradition on campus.

When communities come together with care, purpose, and trust, even a single walk can ripple into lasting change.