December 2024
In 2024, we built 710 rainwater tanks.
Here are just a few families whose lives have been transformed this year with clean water at home.
Meet
the women who made it happen.
This is the power of the giver-receiver model.
a note from the executive director
In Swahili, vumilia means to endure, abide, tolerate, and be patient. But the word has a broader indication – to suffer alone. In Tanzania and worldwide, women learn to face their pain in silence and carry burdens alone. Does it breed strength and perseverance? Or does it cement the perpetuation of struggle? I believe the answer is both.
In one of my favorite Star Wars movies, the following words are spoken: “The empire wants us to believe we are alone in the dark. That’s how they win.” No matter what language you speak or what place you call home, when we stand together, there isn’t anything we can’t overcome.
A new gravel quarry was built in a region where one of our women’s teams is building rainwater tanks and greenhouses. While excavating the earth, it broke into the government water line. No one intends to fix it. The water delivered by this pipe was so highly contaminated with fluoride that it was toxic. But compared to the 13hour walk for water, people relied on it—even if there was no consistency in the delivery.
On most of the homes where rainwater harvesting tanks were built, ten new women would arrive every day begging for water. The homes with tanks are sharing their water, knowing they are depleting their supply. But they rely on the faith that the more they share the gift the rain has given them, the more the rain will continue to shower down. This tells us that the tanks have become vessels to stop suffering alone. It also drives home the need for more systems to be built on more homes because a decentralized water system is the only answer.
We are deeply thankful to share this journey with these brave, resilient women and, through your generosity, build a bridge away from vumilia and the need to suffer in solitude. Together, with donors like you, we can continue to create solutions that ensure no one is left alone in the dark. Your support is the cornerstone in this collective hope, and for that, we are eternally grateful.
With immense thanks, Kelly
Coleman
Save the Rain Executive Director
Advela, a widowed mother of five, holds her baby beside her rainwater harvesting system that was funded by the Addax & Oryx Foundation. Read her story on our website.
GLOBAL WATER CRISIS
Each tank sustains an average of 15 people. During tough times, that number can rise by 300%. If every home had clean water, equity and abundance would follow.
FOOD SECURITY
98% of greenhouse recipients yield a reliable source of food for their families multiple times per week. Someharvesteveryday.Food is always right at their doorstep.
GENDER EQUALITY
98% of residential system recipients report that their daughters no longer walk for water. Girls walk to school instead of trekking for water— one step closer to equal opportunities for every child.
ECONOMIC EMPOWERMENT
Today, 204 women are employed by Save the Rain, bringing transformation, security, and selfreliance to their communities.
Five Transformative Steps Forward in 2024
This year we took steps to deepen our impact, foster equity, and embrace more sustainable practices across all we do.
Expanding Our Farm to 14 Acres
We expanded Save the Rain’s farm by 5.5 acres, reaching a total of 14 acres. We’re tackling food insecurity head-on, providing more nutritious ways for our communities to feed themselves. Our dedicated team of women farmers will grow alongside the land, creating more jobs and greater food security.
Launching a Food Security Program
Our farm now includes test plots for droughtresistant, nutrient-rich crops like millet, chickpeas, lentils, and spelt. With the decline in the reliability of traditional corn due to seed modification, we’re partnering with local schools to introduce these resilient alternatives, helping to secure a stable food supply for growing student populations.
Phasing Out Plastic in Construction
In a push for sustainability, we are eliminating plastic sheeting for our curing process and replacing it with tank coverings sewn together with used cement bags. Each step we take shrinks our environmental footprint, moving us closer to a zero-waste future.
Creating Lending Co-Ops for Women
We established five lending cooperatives for our teams. In these co-ops, women contribute, borrow, and manage funds together, creating a self-sustained support network. This initiative empowers women with financial resources and decision-making power, fostering independence and resilience.
Investing in Our Women Builders
We are dedicated to enhancing the lives of the women who build tanks, trust, and a lasting legacy in their communities. As the cost of living rapidly increases, we raised wages by 18%. We also provide medical care, scholarships for their children, and childcare for those with special needs.
WHEN
WATER CHANGES EVERYTHING: The Ripple Effect in Nkoansiyo
It’s a story that’s been a decade in the making.
Elizabeth starts her day before dawn, making milky chai for her daughter Aviela as she prepares for school. Solomon, Aviela’s little brother, is four, and fast asleep. Aviela, who is nearly 11, pulls on her uniform and gathers her books. Before she leaves the house, Elizabeth ties her shoes and straightens her collar. Nkoansiyo Primary is just down the road, Aviela joins her classmates for the walk.
Next, Elizabeth prepares her husband’s lunch – she will be away all day, building rainwater harvesting systems, while he stays at home with Solomon and their livestock. The kitchen she cooks in is part of an old structure. Their new home was built with her Save the Rain income. She picks greens from her greenhouse and draws water from her tank. Her cattle and goats provide milk. She farms corn and beans to feed her family. Elizabeth is both the breadwinner and the breadmaker.
She has been building rainwater harvesting systems since we first arrived in Nkoansiyo
in 2015. She is a member of Anna’s team, a group of women whose day job it is to deliver transformation through strength, love, and the medium of water. Each tank they build is a bridge from scarcity to abundance – bridging that gap enables their own rise to greater abundance. They are a testament to the exponential power that is unleashed when the natural forces of women and water are combined.
When we arrived in Nkoansiyo, our work brought us into people’s homes and into their lives. Building tanks builds trust. Disabled children who had been hidden in shame and secrecy came to light for the first time. We had already constructed a 150,000-liter system at the school, so we added ramps and wheelchairs to pave the way for their education. As a result, Aviela and her peers unlearned the stigma that traditionally surrounds disability. She was among the students who celebrated the graduation of
Nkoansiyo Primary’s first disabled students last year. Each of those graduates now attends secondary school on a scholarship provided by Save the Rain.
As we approach 20 years of Save the Rain, we’ve been thinking about generational change. Elizabeth’s story speaks to the ways that can manifest. If you were to plot the tale of her days, 2015 would stand out as a clear pivot point – a watermark, if you will. This moment’s change meant that Aviela stepped
into a different life than her mother’s.
Aviela has never known what it is to walk for water – and she never will. Hers is a world where ‘water’ and ‘enough’ are synonymous. Her concept of ‘mother’ is a woman who embodies power, provides for the family, and is respected by her community for her strength and her work to bring about transformation.
It’s a story that’s been nearly a decade in
the making. Since its pivotal starting point, Elizabeth and the women of Save the Rain have built hundreds of domestic tanks in Nkoansiyo alone, and thousands more across the other communities we serve.
Multiply the transformation that rippled out from Elizabeth across tens of thousands of daughters, and you begin to see what generational change means to us.
This vantage point yields a poignant perspective on legacy. The headmaster of
Nkoansiyo Primary once told us that Save the Rain will be remembered forever – but that is the opposite of our intention. If scarcity is what brought us here, we want sufficiency, plenitude, and thriving abundance to wash that memory away.
Change can be immediate and obvious, and slower and more subtly powerful. Elizabeth has subverted the dynamic of water whose
scarcity once enslaved, to a medium through which she channels abundance.
For Aviela, though, it’s not just about never wanting water; it’s about being born into the safety of being able to take that for granted. We will know we’ve been successful if, in years to come, no one remembers our name. Aviela is among the first harbingers of that success.
Nkoansiyo Primary School’s rainwater harvesting system was built in 2015 and provides water for thousands.
What’s Ahead in 2025
Emmanuela’s Project: Legal Empowerment for Women
Too many women in Tanzania lose their homes and property when a man in their life forces them out.
Inspired by our former teammate Emmanuela, who faced this injustice, we are partnering with legal experts to educate communities on women’s rights, ensuring their investments in home and family are recognized and protected. This initiative will provide critical legal support to safeguard women from experiencing what Emmanuela did.
Celebrating 20 Years of Impact
As we enter our 20th year, we are committed to raising the bar on our mission—expanding our team, increasing our reach, and amplifying the transformative work we do in each community.
Building 1,500 New Residential Tanks
In 2025, we aim to build 1,500 new tanks in one region, providing more families with the stability and health that come with access to clean water, right at their doorstep.
By giving today, you become part of the change that flows forward, rippling out to transform lives for generations to come.
Since 2005, Save the Rain has transformed countless lives, empowered women, and built sustainable communities—one tank, one farm, and one family at a time. Your donation brings clean water, strengthens food security, supports education, and fosters equity. Join us in creating a legacy of opportunity and abundance. Please consider donating today.
$15 provides a child with access to clean drinking water for the rest of their life and the life of their future offspring.
$150 provides a family with a residential greenhouse that is filled with organic crops that harvest multiple times a week.
$500 provides a residential rainwater harvesting system and frees a family from searching for water.
Thanks to our corporate sponsors 100% of public donations directly fund our projects.
When just one inch of rain falls on a 500-square-foot roof, 300 gallons of water can be harvested. For a woman who can carry only 10 gallons per trip, it would take 30 journeys to gather what one inch of rain could bring right to her home. A rainwater harvesting tank means she— and herdaughtersandgranddaughters— will never need to walk for water again.
