Every day, women and girls in rural Kenya walk an average of 3.5 miles in search of water. For the second year in a row, the Well Aware H2gO Challenge asked people across the globe to feel a fraction of that reality and respond with action.
This April, our community showed up in a big way: 150 participants. 1,109 miles traveled. $162,794 raised. 8,139 people impacted.
We set a goal of $150,000. Our community surpassed it.
What the H2gO Challenge Is and Why It Matters
The H2gO Challenge is Well Aware’s annual peer-to-peer fundraising campaign, running during the month of April. Over 12 days, participants log miles — walking, running, swimming, biking, doing yoga, whatever moves them — while virtually traveling alongside five partner communities in Kenya and learning their stories.
These are the numbers behind this campaign:
- 2.2 billion people globally lack reliable access to safely managed drinking water
- 80% of Kenyan women and girls bear primary responsibility for water collection
- 3.5 miles is the average distance walked daily just to fetch water
- 58% increase in girls’ education happens when communities gain access to clean water
That last statistic is the one that stays with us. Water is a survival issue AND an equity issue. When girls spend hours each day hauling water, they can’t be in a classroom. When a school has no clean water source, attendance collapses. But when a community gets a well, everything changes.
The Communities at the Center
Participants virtually traveled to five of our partner communities during the challenge. Loormeuti Primary School was one of them. It sits in Kenya’s Laikipia region, where water scarcity has long shaped daily life and educational outcomes for students, especially girls.
Well Aware’s investment in Loormeuti wasn’t just a borehole. It was a commitment to the entire ecosystem of a school: the students who can now attend consistently, the teachers who can run a full day, and the families who no longer have to choose between water and education. Communities like Loormeuti are why we do this work, and why campaigns like H2gO matter so much.
Before Well Aware brought clean water to her community, Favour’s day looked like countless other girls her age: time and energy spent on the water walk instead of her studies, her future shaped more by geography than by her own potential.
“Having safe water means having the chance to pursue my dreams, and inspire others to do the same.” – Favour, 12 years old
Favour’s story isn’t a statistic. It’s a reminder of what’s on the other side of every mile logged and every dollar raised, a girl who gets to dream.
Every dollar raised is being put to work in communities like Loormeuti - installing solar-powered water systems and training community members to maintain them for decades to come.
Our Participants Showed Up
One of the things that makes the H2gO Challenge different is its immersive structure. Participants signed up, created fundraising pages, and logged movement throughout April, unlocking community stories as they hit milestones. They became advocates, sharing their journeys with friends and family and inviting others into the mission.
Take a look at some of our 2026 participants below.
The energy this year was undeniable. Participants challenged each other, tracked their miles, and learned our partner communities’ stories. They turned their daily activity into something bigger than themselves.
Why Peer-to-Peer Fundraising Works
The H2gO Challenge is built on a simple but powerful idea: people give to people. When a friend emails you about a cause they’re personally invested in, when they’ve already put their physical body and their time behind it, you listen differently.
That’s why we invest in peer-to-peer fundraising. It expands our reach into networks we could never touch alone, and it turns donors into advocates and advocates into community. We are so thankful to our community, who year after year, stand behind our mission and not only raise awareness, but also change the way people in their lives think about water.
What’s Next
The H2gO Challenge will return next April, and we are looking forward to growing our community and cementing our sustainable impact.
2.2 billion people still lack clean water. Women and girls are still walking. This year, 150 people decided to walk with them, and because of that, 8,139 people will now have something they didn’t have before. Girls like Favour are no longer waiting.
If you participated this year, thank you. If you gave, thank you. If you’re reading this for the first time, welcome. There’s a place for you in this community.
We invite you to follow along. Subscribe to our newsletter, follow us on socials, and keep an eye out for next year’s challenge.
Somewhere in Kenya, a girl is walking. We’re so thankful that this community decided to walk with her.