After completing our first two projects, something in me shifted. The work no longer felt like an experiment or a tentative step into unfamiliar territory. It felt like a calling, one that was beginning to take shape with every mile traveled, every conversation held, every community visited. Those early projects didn’t just give us clean water points; they gave us clarity. They showed us what was possible, and just as importantly, what wasn’t. Over the next two years, we comp

The third installment in the Samson Series explores our first 2 water project and shares all the lessons we learned in doing them. From Intent to Action Intention is the desire to reach a goal; action is the decision to pursue it, with all the cost, uncertainty, and responsibility that pursuit requires. That distinction had been growing clearer to me for months. For more than a year, I had been building systems, learning the language of nonprofit work, assembling the right

The second installment in The Samson Project Series tells the story of how we entered the water development world and highlights a few of the plethora of things we learned along the way. If It’s Broke, Try to Fix It Admitting what I did not know turned out to be one of the few advantages I had. It forced humility on me from the start. I never imagined landing in Nigeria with a neat solution tucked into my carry-on. If I were going to help, it would be by leaning on people w

I have used this blog to share updates on our water project, but I have not used it to tell the story of how it all began. Lately, I have been reflecting on and documenting that story. Over the next few months, I will share those musings here. Here goes. The Sleeping Dream The year was 1987, and I was seven years old, small enough that the world still felt oversized, but old enough to recognize when something was wrong. My mother had us on a road trip across Arizona, the

This week marked a milestone for Partners For Water: our 50th water project.Of the boreholes we’ve drilled, 49 continue to operate—day after day—bringing reliable, clean, life-changing water to more than 52,000 people every day. That means families can start their mornings without an hours-long walk to find water, children can spend more time in school, and communities can focus their energy on work, farming, and caring for one another rather than simply finding enough water

Pain has a way of getting our attention. It interrupts plans, exposes weaknesses, and forces questions we would rather avoid. In those moments, we usually have two choices: let the pain define us—or let it refine us. Pain tends to shape us, whether we want it to or not. The question is not whether we will experience hardship, disappointment, or failure, it is when we will and what we will choose to do with it. Not wasting personal pain means refusing to let difficult experie

In December, we completed our eighth year of water project planning and development in Nigeria. This consistency has enabled us to complete 48 boreholes, providing over 43,000 people with access to clean, safe water every day. When we first started, it was exciting and intense to be on the cutting edge of water development in Nigeria; however, we have learned that consistency is far more essential to lasting success than intensity (ask your favorite one-hit wonder artist). Ou

When Samson (my partner and friend) tragically and unexpectedly passed away last August, there were many (including me) who thought PFW's...

Action Trumps Intention I enjoy periodically getting lost in my thoughts. Over the years, I have learned that it helps my problem-solving...

Last summer, August 10, 2024, to be exact, I received the type of phone call everyone fears receiving. I was informed on that call that...

Globally, 2 billion people do not have access to safe drinking water (UNESCO, 2023), and significantly more face water-stressed...

We recently completed work on our 40th water project. This project will supply more people with clean water than any other project we...

Things are tough in Nigeria right now. As I stated in my last blog, inflation is at record highs. For example, when I first visited...

As we near another year's conclusion, I am ecstatic that PFW and our work in Nigeria, West Africa, continue to thrive even while 2023 has...

In June, we completed our 37th water project (36 of these projects actively produce water), bringing the number of people being provided...

"Do what you can, with what you've got, where you are" is a quote often attributed to Theodore Roosevelt (although in his autobiography,...

In November, we completed our 32nd and 33rd water projects in Nigeria, bringing the daily total of people served with safe, sustainable,...

Last week I visited Nigeria for the first time since November 2019 (go here to see pictures). Since 2017 I have visited Nigeria every six...

To say the last few years have been tumultuous would be an understatement. Amid a global pandemic, a constantly shifting economic...

We have reached the water project mid-year. Though we have not yet reached the middle of the calendar year, we have reached the start of...