By Aaron Lemma,
Director, U.S. Operations
Water is Life Kenya
How many times have you used water today?
I asked this question to over 1,000 Catholic school students across our diocese this Lent. These school assemblies are part of our Living Water for Lent solidarity campaign, which is raising awareness about marginalized communities served by our organization, Water is Life Kenya (WILK).
I asked other questions, too: Has a barking hyena ever kept you awake at night? How fast does an ostrich run? Who wants to go to Kenya?
It’s been fun watching students from kindergarten to 8th grade lean forward to learn something new, then lean back to reflect.
Catholic school students have a knack for understanding things deeply. They are also good kids who care about others.
I’ve seen that same genuine care during my talks. At one point, I shared an image of a Kenyan mother and her daughter carrying water, 5-gallon jerry cans slung on their backs. I explained that, in rural parts of Kenya, women and their daughters walk up to 8 hours every day just to fetch water — and it isn’t even clean.
When I said this, their world stopped spinning for a moment.
A 5th grade student came up to me after presenting at Holy Cross in Dover. “What you said about moms carrying water really meant a lot to me.”
Then she started crying.
She understood it deeply. The water situation in many places around the world is desperate and heartbreaking. It isn’t fair that some people suffer every day just to secure this basic human necessity while others — most of us — don’t think twice about it.
This is exactly what our co-founder, Joyce Tannian, saw in Kenya back in 2006.
She was in New York City during 9/11. Soon after, she started volunteering and found purpose in giving back to others. After visiting Kenya as a tourist, she embarked on a year-long volunteer opportunity to support girls’ education in Kenya. She saw the dire water situation and realized that girls can’t go to school because they have to help their moms carry water.
Joyce graduated from three Catholic schools in the Diocese of Wilmington — Mount Aviat Academy, Holy Angels School, and St. Mark’s High School. She was never worried about affording an education or having clean water.
While still in Kenya, she called her parents, Francis and Beatrix Tannian (also lifelong Catholics), and asked if they could help.
Her dad responded, “If God wants us to help his people, then it will happen!”
This was nearly 20 years ago. Since then, Joyce, her late parents, our Kenyan team, and thousands of supporters have invested in WILK. Just last month, we drilled our 36th water project. We’ve now delivered clean water to 110,000 people.
It’s amazing what a Catholic education — and God’s help — can make possible!
Living Water for Lent came about when I met Lou De Angelo, superintendent of Catholic Schools, at the Diocese of Wilmington Catholic Business Network breakfast last June. He wanted to engage students in a meaningful Lenten program that would increase their awareness of global issues.
Through this program, students at Joyce’s three alma maters, along with Christ the Teacher, Holy Cross, St. Anthony’s, and St. Peter Cathedral School, participate in daily prayer and reflections to learn about life in Kenya. These daily reflections unite Lenten themes and the seven tenants of Catholic social teaching.
In his 2026 Lenten message, Pope Leo XIV invites all Catholics to come together in faith:
“… our parishes, families, ecclesial groups and religious communities are called to undertake a shared journey during Lent, in which listening to the word of God, as well as to the cry of the poor and of the earth, becomes part of our community life … and as regards humanity’s thirst for justice and reconciliation.”
Students and families across our Diocese have embarked on a shared journey of solidarity. Through Living Water for Lent, we are quenching “humanity’s thirst for justice” by giving alms to support clean water access in Kenya. Thousands of dollars have already been raised by our generous school partners.
Not only are students involved, but teachers are, too. A delegation from Holy Cross School in Dover is currently planning a summer mission trip to Kenya to rehabilitate school facilities. Likewise, the diocese’s Youth Leadership Team is also getting involved by designing missionary activities to promote WILK to their friends, families and communities.
We ended every presentation by singing together “Ashe Naleng Enkai Ai,” which is Maasai for “Thank you so much, my God.”
We thank God, not only for the gift of clean water in our lives, but also for the transformative gift of Catholic education.
You can donate to this effort at waterislifekenya.org/cdow.
Aaron Lemma is director of U.S. Operations at Water is Life Kenya, a nonprofit that brings clean water, opportunity, and hope to Maasai people in Southern Kenya. Contact him at aaron@waterislifekenya.org.
