Thirteen-year-old Derek Ngura just moved to Anyige from another village in the Apac District; his father is a builder and there are more work opportunities for him there.

We were excited about finding Derek as we assumed he was going to be able to give us a detailed first-hand account of how much his life had been impacted by clean water. It turned out we were right but not for a reason that any of us would ever have guessed.

Here’s a transcript of the interview. Spoiler Alert: The jaw-dropper comes all the way at the end: 

 

Water to Thrive:                  “So Derek, how often did you get sick drinking the water at your old village and how much school did you miss as a result?”

 

Derek:                                “I never got sick.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “What about school?”

 

Derek:                                 “I never missed school.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “What about the other members of your family?”

 

Derek:                                “No.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “What about your other relatives?”

 

Derek:                                “No.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “Classmates?”

 

Derek:                                “No.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “Anyone?”

 

Derek:                                “No.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “Derek. Are you saying you didn’t have any water-related diseases at your old village?”

 

Derek:                                “No.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “Why do you think that was?”

 

Derek:                                “We had a borehole.”

 

Water to Thrive:                 [Internally] There goes that storyline. Better quickly ask him a few wrap-up questions we don’t want him to think he did anything wrong.

 

Water to Thrive:                  “So Derek, what are your favorite subjects at school?’’

 

Derek:                               “Math and science.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “Good for you. Are you hoping to use them to earn a living one day?”

 

Derek:                                “Yes.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “Doing what?”

 

Derek:                               “I want to be a water engineer and do projects like these in all the communities that don’t have access to clean water. I know how lucky I’ve been to have had clean water to drink my whole life and I want to do what I can to help everybody have the same opportunity.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “Huh?”

 

And just like that, the tables had completed turned. Derek had morphed into a chatterbox spouting water statistics and talking about all the people he was going to help while we had been stunned into silence. Nobody in the group had ever heard a response like this before.

 

Derek was now in full flight talking about his favorite subject which gave us a chance to regain our composure. We thanked him for his time, congratulated him on his career choice and wished him well in the future.

 

It wasn’t until later on that day that it dawned on us what we had witnessed. Derek’s desire to help people less fortunate than himself was a bi-product of the work Water to Thrive and organizations like it have been doing in Africa for generations.

 

We learned that day that the example we set may be just as important – if not, more so – than the physical work we are doing.

 

It’s like the old proverb says:

“Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach him to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.”

 

Thirteen-year-old Derek Ngura just moved to Anyige from another village in the Apac District; his father is a builder and there are more work opportunities for him there.

We were excited about finding Derek as we assumed he was going to be able to give us a detailed first-hand account of how much his life had been impacted by clean water. It turned out we were right but not for a reason that any of us would ever have guessed.

Here’s a transcript of the interview. Spoiler Alert: The jaw-dropper comes all the way at the end: 

 

Water to Thrive:                  “So Derek, how often did you get sick drinking the water at your old village and how much school did you miss as a result?”

 

Derek:                                “I never got sick.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “What about school?”

 

Derek:                                 “I never missed school.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “What about the other members of your family?”

 

Derek:                                “No.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “What about your other relatives?”

 

Derek:                                “No.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “Classmates?”

 

Derek:                                “No.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “Anyone?”

 

Derek:                                “No.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “Derek. Are you saying you didn’t have any water-related diseases at your old village?”

 

Derek:                                “No.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “Why do you think that was?”

 

Derek:                                “We had a borehole.”

 

Water to Thrive:                 [Internally] There goes that storyline. Better quickly ask him a few wrap-up questions we don’t want him to think he did anything wrong.

 

Water to Thrive:                  “So Derek, what are your favorite subjects at school?’’

 

Derek:                               “Math and science.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “Good for you. Are you hoping to use them to earn a living one day?”

 

Derek:                                “Yes.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “Doing what?”

 

Derek:                               “I want to be a water engineer and do projects like these in all the communities that don’t have access to clean water. I know how lucky I’ve been to have had clean water to drink my whole life and I want to do what I can to help everybody have the same opportunity.”

 

Water to Thrive:                  “Huh?”

 

And just like that, the tables had completed turned. Derek had morphed into a chatterbox spouting water statistics and talking about all the people he was going to help while we had been stunned into silence. Nobody in the group had ever heard a response like this before.

 

Derek was now in full flight talking about his favorite subject which gave us a chance to regain our composure. We thanked him for his time, congratulated him on his career choice and wished him well in the future.

 

It wasn’t until later on that day that it dawned on us what we had witnessed. Derek’s desire to help people less fortunate than himself was a bi-product of the work Water to Thrive and organizations like it have been doing in Africa for generations.

 

We learned that day that the example we set may be just as important – if not, more so – than the physical work we are doing.

 

It’s like the old proverb says:

“Give a man a fish and he eats for a day. Teach him to fish and he’ll eat for a lifetime.”