Since coming to Canada in 1971 from a small village in western Kenya, 79-year-old RN Beatrice Osome has never wavered from her desire to help children in her own and other African villages have access to clean water. She remembers walking two or three kilometres under the sweltering sun to fetch contaminated water from a river. After carrying it home on her head, the family would use it for washing, cleaning and even drinking (but only after boiling it as a precaution). 

In 1975, when she took her own children to visit Kenya, the lengthy process to collect water had not changed from when she was a young girl. Children were more focused on water than their studies. This left an impression on Osome’s twins, who were seven years old at the time. Years later, when Osome retired from nursing in acute, chronic and long-term care in Ottawa, her then teenage twins asked her: “What are we doing about the water in Kenya?” With that, the idea to fundraise to build wells at primary schools in Kenyan villages was born. 

The first well was completed in 2007. “Our wish was to do 10 (wells); however, we’ve built 23,” Osome proudly shares. The 23rd was completed in January 2023 at the same primary school that Osome attended in 1954. Her new goal of 25 is in sight.