NOVEMBER 2008
On Easter Sunday April 16, 2017, I got a call from Kokwo Toto, Kenya that there was no water from the well at the clinic. There was also no water from the only other source of clean water at the local missionary’s (John Brynan) house.
I was aghast! I had just returned from Kenya a few weeks ago, having left everything in working condition…clean water flowing both at the clinic and John’s house. What could have gone wrong?
When I returned to Kenya, this is the picture of the only source of water that was available in. This gentleman on the right was using dirty rain water collected from rain over a period of 2 weeks, which is what he used to wash himself and his clothes.
Here, the same water is being used by this boy to wash his motorcycle…wash, drink, and cook with the same bacteria and virus filled water.Of course, the same water is used to feed the animals!
I had no one in Kenya right now who could fix that well and so I asked the missionary, John Brynan, who was in the States right now. Unfortunately, he wouldn’t be returning to Kenya anytime soon. I was at a loss.I didn’t want the people of Kokwo Toto to suffer.
It wasn’t even two weeks after there was no clean water in our community that the reports came in that the cattle were dying, as there was even no rain at this time. My heart was broken. Then a miracle happened. John introduced us to a group of angels called Drilling for Life. They were based out of East Earl, PA and had an office in Kenya! Would they be able to help us?
“There are only two ways to live your life. One is as though nothing is a miracle. The other is as though everything is a miracle.”
-Albert Einstein


When I finally arrived in Kenya on September 13, 2017, this is the scene that we repeated itself everyday…The school children from the Kokwo Toto Primary School, which was across the street would walk across to our clinic compound, sometimes three times a day to drink water…after school, they would come with jerry cans to fill with this precious liquid to take home to their families. This was the only source of clean water for miles around.

Before I returned to Kenya this time, a miracle happened! Drilling for Life and Ron and his angels decided to help us repair the well at the clinic! I awaited their arrival with much anticipation, knowing that they were about to restore the greatest gift of l i f e …c l e a n w a t e r !

Soon Ron and his angels arrived to repair the pump at our well at the clinic. Within 48 hours, they restored clean, fresh water which our community of 1000 could use again. Miracle!

Clean water at the clinic compound!

Another miracle was about to take place. Ron and Drilling for Life decided to partner with us to drill another well in our town, about three miles from the clinic compound, to serve additional communities, that wouldn’t have to walk as far as they were used to walking all the way to our clinic compound.
“A miracle is when the whole is greater than the sum of its parts. A miracle is when one plus one equals a thousand.”
-Frederick Buechner,
-The Alphabet of Grace
Here Drilling for Life joined hands with the community to pray for the blessing that water may be found here at Kokwo Banga

The work was begun to reach the depth of 160 meter, which Ron and his team accomplished in 8 hours!

Ron working to get the casings that had to be dropped into the 160 meter well.

“P eo p l e us ual ly co n s ider wal k in g o n wat er o r in thin air a miracle. But I think the real miracle is not to walk either on water or in thin air, but to walk on earth. Every day we are engaged in a miracle which we don’t even recognize”
Thich Nhat Hanh
Ron and his team are now taking out the casings and gravel that have to be dropped down into the borehole.

Clean water at Kokwo Banga! Another miracle!

Pictured here the right is one of another 500 people that is now going to benefit from clean drinking water! There are three taps here that will serve the community for many years to come. Ron’s Well, as we named it, will stand as the hope of life in this community. Where there is water, there is life! The people were so grateful!

Once we finished with the project at the eye clinic and the new well at Kokwo Banga, we headed to Siria to do a few repairs the well we had drilled in Feb 2017.
”God has given us two hands, one to receive with and theother to give with”.Billy Graham
We had to remove the taps from inside the compound at Caitlins Well in Siria to make sure no animals came inside the compound to destroy any of our solar panels! We moved the taps right outside the fence so the animals and people can get access to water!

Thank you to our sponsors who helped us get the job done in 2017…eyecamp to which served over 1000 people, repairs to the well at the clinic compound, a new well at Kokwo Banga, lovingly named Ron’s Well,, and repairs to Caitlin’s Well at Siria!
Our Sponsors:
Dr Peter Campanella, Dr Moiz Carim, the Philadelphia County Optometric Society, the First Presybterian Church of Willow Grove, Shonela Jalaluddin, West Ocean City Illness and Injury Center, Sunnbyrook Optical, Berks Eye Pysicians, Dr Peter Calder, Dr Bill Jacobsen, Red Plate Diner, Dr Lisa McDevitt, Auntie Annes, Modern Eyes, Allergy and Asthma, Dr Doug Villella, Dr Hu, Hall Media Solutions, Christine Kreisher, Dr Joseph Coffey, Dr Adam Altman

Do you remember that little girl that never smiled in Siria, named Town…here she is now after drinking clean water for six months!
