My Nonprofit Reviews

In September, I accompanied Steve and the Water is Basic team in South Sudan to witness the impact of women repairing water wells. One of the main issues in South Sudan is the lack of clean water. Water is a woman's issue (role). This means women and girls put themselves in danger as they walk 8-10 hours collecting dirty water that makes their families sick. It also means girls can't attend school. When girls are educated, we see faster poverty reduction, better maternal health, lower child mortality, greater HIV prevention, and reduced violence.

To tackle this problem, Water is Basic attempted something that has yet to be done: train women to repair the water wells. Since collecting water is a woman's role, it sounds like a no-brainer, but it isn't effortless to empower women who live in highly patriarchal societies. The Water is Basic team must go to the villages and cast the vision to the village elders. If the male elders decide yes, they select a woman from their village to be trained. Before proceeding, she must get permission from her husband, and many disapprove. If the husband agrees, the elders select a man from the village to assist her; women can only travel with the accompaniment of a man.

The most inspiring thing was to see how, in three short years, a small economic investment in women shifted the community's view of women. In a culture where the custom was for women to crawl on their knees to approach a man, they now have dignity and voice, serve in local leadership, and have financial agency. Now, they make enough money to build 5+ mud homes on their homestead, housing all their relatives. They send their kids to school and grow crops for food. Hearing them share how this has shifted their view of themselves was mesmerizing. "We have rights." "We are equals." "We are capable."

The men have also started accepting women as partners and responding with honor. We need our brothers to change how we treat women; male allyship is crucial to cultural shifts. These male team members are willing to put their "maleness" on the line to lift women (and the community.) We need men like this!
For decades, my life's work has been to reshape the view of women as Jesus intended. It's only been three years since Steve came up with the idea to train women in well-repair mechanics. Three short years, and on this day, I stood and prayed blessings upon one of their teams. What a privilege to lift Elizabeth and Gabriel to the Lord. They are examples of what happens when men and women choose to live out God's vision for his blessed alliance. I left Africa overflowing with gratitude and conviction. We have more work to do to change our view of women in our homes, churches, and workplaces.

But I also came home with a heart full of admiration for my husband. I've always known I'm married to a real-life Indiana Jones, but to see him in action was just… no words. He has served these people for twenty years. He loves them like family. The African leaders call him a Majokdit, a colorful black-and-white bull. It's a name they give to important people. No bull! On one of our visits, Steve knelt to greet one of the female mechanics. The counter-cultural posture was not lost on them. I loved watching how he moved so effortlessly between the African leaders and the American travelers. It's not easy to traverse two cultures at the same time. And to see this man, an enneagram eight, white privileged male leader, defer his leadership to the African team was … well, a lot like Jesus. Witnessing the incredible impact of empowering women has shown me that we can all make a difference in the world. It takes hard work, dedication, and the willingness to break down barriers, but it's worth it.