7 Days. 300+ Participants. 24,000 Lives Changed.

The 2021 Shower Strike was one for the books.

After a year of uncertainty and postponement, returning to Shower Strike was a big relief and the start of the return to normalcy for Well Aware and our East African partner communities. We had over 300 participants, from all around the globe and all walks of life, join us virtually to Skip Showers, Walk for Water, fundraise, and raise awareness for our clean water systems. In just one week, these incredible advocates raised enough to provide lasting clean water to more than 24,000 people — changing their lives forever.

The beneficiaries of this year’s campaign are numerous, ranging from the home community of Well Aware’s very first employee, Mike Mutuku, to entire schools serving hundreds of young leaders.

For Mike, it all started in Kooi. Also known as “Maji Man,” or “Water Man,” Mike is our Projects Manager in East Africa and was also the first-ever paid employee of Well Aware. We mean it when we say that this work would not be possible without him. Although he no longer lives in Kooi, he is passionate about bringing water to his home community.

Kooi currently has a population of about 3,000 people who are collecting their water from an open dam that is highly contaminated, causing high rates of illness within the community. The next closest source of water is more than 5 kilometers away.

But, with the funds raised through this year’s Shower Strike, we will finally be able to fund and implement a new well for this community that holds a special place in Mike’s heart, along with many others in need of clean water.

Listen to Mike’s message below:

Another beneficiary of this year’s Shower Strike is The Ingrid School in Kenya — home to 230 underprivileged children from the Kayole slum, from kindergarten through grade 8. The students here are no strangers to poverty, hunger, and illness. Because there is no clean water available in the area, the school has to pay high prices to have water trucked in, making it difficult to fund important education initiatives and accept new students at the school. Last year, during the pandemic, they couldn’t afford the water and nearly shut down as a result.

This year, around 100 students from 11 different classrooms across the U.S. participated in Shower Strike to raise funds to drill a new well that will benefit the students at Ingrid School, along with 15,000 nearby residents. With this new source of lasting clean water, the school will be able to stop paying for water, enroll more students, and transform the futures of more deserving children in the area.

With clean water, access to sanitation and hygiene will increase. The overall health of the students, staff, and surrounding residents will improve greatly. And, they will be able to plant a garden which they can use to supply food for the school.

But, The Ingrid School and Kooi community represent just a portion of the 24,000 people whose lives will be forever transformed thanks to the passionate fundraising efforts of this year’s Shower Strike participants.

And, to celebrate those participants who went above and beyond, we are excited to announce our top fundraising prizes:

Striker of the Year: Terry Kowalicki
Raised the most funds overall through April 28th

Striker of the Week: Alison Maule-Kronmiller & David Kronmiller
Raised the most funds during the Shower Strike week, April 22-28

Top Fundraising Classroom: McCallum PALS
Raised the most overall of any classroom tea

We’re so grateful for EVERYONE who participated, donated, liked, and shared. THANK YOU for helping to make clean water a reality for tens of thousands of individuals. We look forward to seeing the profound impact that will occur as a result of this powerful 2021 Shower Strike.

Special Thank You to Our Sponsors:
Spectrum Brands
Tito’s Handmade Vodka
Nav Sooch
INTERA Inc.
Stahl Family Foundation
Alan Blake
Aqua Strategies
Robert Richman
TriLinc Global
Biofriendly
ASK Charitable Foundation
Mark & Kathy Walton