“A Walk With": A Glimpse into TAP’s Beginnings

For years, we had dreamed of establishing a Water Research and Development Center in Uganda.

That dream was inspired by our own journey, which began with a trip Josh took with his dad in 2008. On this trip Josh and his father, John Kurtz, were able to take water samples to test water in a Ugandan town. What they found was startling. They found extremely high, unsafe levels of nitrates in the water. The water looked clear, smelt fine, and tasted fine, but it still served as a public health hazard – and nobody in that town was aware. High nitrate levels can have devastating health impacts on a community. This discovery made through water testing, something that likely had not previously been done in this community, set Josh on a path dedicated to learning more regarding the water safety and accessibility of the Ugandan people. Josh lost his dad suddenly in April of 2016, and we are so grateful he was able to be a part of these initial water-discoveries in Uganda. 

Mr. Kurtz meeting with local community.

In 2010, Josh and I were able to return to Uganda with our family. For five months, we lived there with our two young children, who were just one and four years old at the time. On this trip we lived in a housing complex with multiple other homes all facing inward to an open, shared dirt-space referred to as a “compound”. This compound was home to primarily mothers and their children – whose main source of water was 1 shared tap-stand (for the compound) and rainwater. Because the tap-stand could at times be out of service for weeks, the mothers would catch rain in small basins they had stored inside their homes, and they would run to put the basins outside when it would rain. 

On this trip, Josh and I intentionally decided not to have water brought in from the city when the tap-stand failed to release water. We did have bottled water for drinking, as we were there with our young children. However, for all other purposes we chose to live as our neighbors did, relying on the same water sources they relied on each day. We wanted their reality to become our reality—to experience their challenges firsthand and experience their needs as our own. This meant at times, we would wait for it to rain, and we would collect rain water to use for cooking, cleaning and washing clothes. Just like our neighbors, we would rush to get our basins when the raindrops came. 

One particular week was especially difficult. Day after day, we waited for the rain, but it never came. Although we could have had water brought in from the city, we chose to wait with our neighbors, experiencing the same dependence on the rain that shaped their daily lives. It grieved us that our neighbors had very few alternative options for water when the rain was delayed. I had never experienced such dependence on rain. For these mothers, rain provided the water they needed to care for their families, rain would sustain them for another day. Eventually the rain did come, and we watched people dance and cheer in celebration. The children also danced as we helped collect water alongside them, and for them. We shared in the relief and hope that the rain had brought. It was an impactful day that will always be imprinted in my memory. Living among these beautiful, strong mothers who struggled to access safe, reliable water sparked a vision that has continued to grow into The Ayin Project. It taught Josh and I the importance of being with, and walking with the people we serve. 

TAP WASH in Schools Project

Fast forward to today, and the work we are currently doing at our very own Water Research Development Center in Uganda. This is very exciting and has been a long time coming! Today, one of the WRDC projects I personally am most excited about is the WASH in Schools Program. What’s special about the Wash in Schools Program is that our Uganda team is currently providing safe, clean water, directly to kids within their school day. This is a big milestone! While drilling a new well, or adding new water-infrastructure can be helpful in communities, it doesn't always guarantee that children will consistently have access to that clean water. However, this program is directly increasing student daily water intake, and we are so pleased.

We’re also pleased to be partnering with schools, administrators and leaders to make this program happen. The partnership - a walk with - matters deeply to us. Each new school we assess receives WASH training, and 2 new water filtration stations, that students can access throughout their day. This isn’t an overly expensive solution, but it has a high and direct impact on the health and learning outcomes of the students at these schools. Providing clean water directly to children where they live and learn every day is one of our greatest successes thus far. And we’re just getting started. We look forward to the data and testimonies we will collect in the near future regarding our partner schools and the overall health and learning impact clean water has had on their student populations.

Meeting Elijah

One final and meaningful part of TAP's beginnings is that in 2010, there was a 12-year-old boy named Elijah who stopped by our home almost every day on his walk home from school. He loved playing with our kids and would always check in on our family. Elijah was so kind, and he would often ask if he could serve us by washing our floors or dishes. He just wanted to serve us – in return for serving his community. I remember Elijah asking if he could walk to a nearby borehole to bring us a jerrycan of water when we were low. He did this multiple times over the course of our 5-month stay. Today, that young boy is a proud team-member of TAP's Water Research and Development Center in Uganda. Over the years, Elijah has grown into a skilled professional and invaluable part of our WRDC team. It has been such an unexpected gift for us to watch Elijah grow into the confident and competent professional he is today. Elijah is a TAP Field and Lab Technician and an ArcGIS Specialist. His expertise and joyful spirit make him a wonderful asset to the work we do every day. Elijah has also taken on a key role in our WASH in Schools Program, as a WASH educator and facilitator. Elijah is a great speaker and translator, and he really shines with the students at our partner schools. We could never have anticipated him joining us in our work 15 years later!

For us, TAP’s vision began as a walk with our neighbors – while living amongst a community of mothers, in a small compound in Uganda. We walked alongside our neighbors then, and we will continue to walk alongside the schools, communities, and neighbors we work with now. For us it always has been and always will be, “A Walk With”. The word “Ayin” means “to see”, and we will never forget the mothers and children, who helped shape TAP’s vision. Because of them, we will go forward doing our part to ensure all people have equitable access to clean water, the most basic human need.