CWS Senior Director of Fundraising Strategy, Mary Catherine Hinds, shares her visit to Psirwo, Kenya, where women are transforming their community through water access, poultry farming and cooperative savings.
From Water to Opportunity
In early September 2025, I traveled to Psirwo in West Pokot, Kenya—where women are leading community transformation with support from CWS and our local partner, Yang’at. We were welcomed with songs, dancing and the warm embrace of the Women’s Group Leader, Vivian.
Life in this arid region near the Ugandan border is demanding. Before CWS and Yang’at began working here in 2011, women and girls walked miles for water every day. Nutritious food was scarce. Mothers like Vivian did everything they could to keep families healthy, often without a voice in household decisions.
Ten years ago, that began to change. Together with the community, CWS installed a sand dam that holds seasonal rains underground—releasing clean water year-round. The women supplied stones, sand and most of the labor. With water close by, girls traded six-mile walks for school. Mothers exchanged hours at the river for time growing family income.
Chickens and Change
To build livelihoods in a context where men traditionally own all the assets, we started with something the men in this community typically disregard: chickens. Each woman received four hens and a rooster, plus training. Eggs meant protein at home and chickens to sell. As incomes grew, the women launched a village savings and loan association—“table banking”—where members invest together and borrow at 10% interest.
The results are remarkable. Vivian’s group now runs a cooperative that sells eggs and chickens to the local school and nearby businesses. They saved enough to purchase two acres of land—security for everything they are building. “We realized all our work could be taken away if we didn’t own the land,” Vivian told us, standing on their newly purchased plot.
A Garden of Growth
Just weeks before our visit, the women planted a demonstration garden there. Neighbors now come to learn how to grow kale, tomatoes and spinach for more nutritious meals. The group rotates daily care for the garden and chickens—and they recently hired a man as a night caretaker from the community to protect their shared investment. What began with water and a few chickens has become a hub of learning and leadership. Vivian and the 28 women of her Women’s Group are a light to hope—they are guiding and inspiring women from other villages to come and learn, and they are following their example.
Before we left Psirwo, Vivian said, “Thank you. Now we are healthy and clean because of how we were trained.” Less than two months later, a photo arrived: Vivian in the garden, surrounded by green life. Like the community, it is verdant, full of life and healthy. It all started with some chickens and training—a cost of roughly $100. I am in awe at how an investment of just a small amount started a transformation so big. But that’s what happens when you invest in determined, hard-working women.
Mary Catherine Hinds is the Senior Director of Fundraising Strategy with CWS. To learn more about our work in Kenya, click here.
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