About Rainworks

Rainworks was set up by Anna MacDonald and the women of Nganyoi in the early 1990s.

"While I was volunteering at Lake Nakuru National Park, I had got to know the local community, and the significant challenges they faced in getting clean water. Women spent hours every day collecting water from an often polluted river. Together we found a solution and the project began.

Thanks to hard work and determination of the women of Nganyoi, invaluable support from the park authorities, engineers at the local catholic diocese water programme, and the generosity of people across the UK – the project has gone from strength to strength.

In 1994 the first six water tanks, made from concrete, were constructed. Today we use more durable plastic tanks and the project has expanded – women in neighbouring villages have formed women’s groups in order to build their own water tanks.

In addition, water pumped from boreholes within the national park to a tap on the boundary helped establish a tree nursery. Now in existence for 15 years, the nursery has allowed villages to plant trees around their farms, reducing rainwater runoff and further conserving water supplies.

Originally operating under the Swahili name, Maji Ni Uhui or ‘Water is Life’ the partnership re-launched as Rainworks in 2009. With your help we hope to help fund over 100 tanks in the villages in the next five years."