This post is about how to take an active role in my most recent short film, Waiting for Water, which documents the state of water security in Western Kenya. You can learn more about this project by browsing through this blog and by checking out my Instagram page where I’ve been posting a lot about the film.

In case you haven't seen the trailer yet - this is it. Stay tuned for more previews and extras over the next few weeks. The film is due out May 1st.

My intent with Waiting for Water is to improve the water security situation in Sirisia. Success for me is wholly determined by the wellbeing of the women I met in Western Kenya. I truly could not care any less about the aesthetics or style of the film so long as it achieves it’s social goals.

This film is a flop if it doesn’t reduce the waiting for water that these women do.

A screen shot from Waiting for Water. Mr. Wekola provided one of the key interviews for the film. He's been working on water security in Western Kenya for years now.

As we get closer to the May 1st release date of Waiting for Water I’ll be pushing more ways to get involved and asking you all to continue to spread the word about this project and this issue. But why wait? We can start with a few small things today and I’ll list them below starting with the easiest.

1. Spread the word about this issue and about this project. Sure its clicktivism or something like that, but we have to start somewhere! Share this project with everyone you know, write emails, use Facebook, Snapchat, Instagram, or whatever other social media you tolerate, just spread the word.

Use your people skills to write to radio stations, newspapers, websites and magazines, tell them about this cause.

2. Donate cash for clean water infrastructure. Guess what, permanent, clean, reliable, water infrastructure is expensive to develop! The process of digging wells, installing pumps, providing filters or chlorine dispensers, or setting up storage tanks generally costs a lot of money.

We can sit around and argue about who’s responsibility it is to provide this kind of infrastructure and who should be paying for it but, honestly, none of that matters to the people who spend half their day sitting around waiting in line to scoop water out of a puddle.

So who do you donate to? Well you’ve got a few options and I suggest you explore all of them. Start with the Kenyan Red Cross Society. They’re doing great work, not just on water security issues, but social development issues in general and the Bungoma branch of the KRCS was essential to this video project.

Next check out these organizations that do water development work around the world and even in Western Kenya:

How long was your shower this morning? How long did you let the water run down the drain before you even got in? Yeah that’s what I thought… come on, time to fork over a few bucks to one of these charities.

A screen shot form Waiting for Water - check back on this blog frequently and browse through old posts for more previews of the short film before its May 1st release date.

3. Start your own project. Clean water is a human right – everyone deserves easy access to clean water regardless of where they live. This issue is not isolated to Sirisia, Kenya, or Africa. It’s a global issue that is increasingly relevant in even the world’s wealthiest nations.

This is to say that your involvement in this issue need not be wholly concerned with “Africa” or “development.” Water is necessary for all life – human or otherwise. Where is your passion and how is water connected to it?

The mighty Colorado River fails to reach the ocean, towns in California have depleted their aquifers, and water related animals, fish and amphibians, are dying out at unprecedented rates…

Generally speaking, we, as humans, need to change the way we think about water. Use your talents, whatever they are, and be a part of that change.

Well, if I've come even close to inspiring you please let National Geographic do the rest with their amazing coverage of all things water.

more fire, less ice

WAITING FOR WATER: What to do?