Photo by Brio Yiapan

Dane Anderson, Staff Writer

It might seem that Sarah Evans and Brio Yiapan share very little common ground. Evans holds a law degree from Southern Methodist University and spent time in the financial and lobbying worlds. She currently works at JEIDesign, an interior design company on Bee Cave Road. Kenyan-born Yiapan is a freelance photographer who comes equipped with a rich nomadic Maasai heritage. One pale and blonde, the other with unruly hair and a smile of pure sunshine, they could be the poster children of a fresh generation – a generation focused on changing the world.

The two women are the founders of Well Aware, a nonprofit organization they created in 2006 to help bring clean water to people in dire need. They are starting their work in Yiapan’s native Kenya. With the support of companies including Bee Cave Drilling, they will be moving the headquarters for their operation to Kenya later this month.

“Everything begins with clean water,” Evans said. “Dirty water is the leading cause of death in the world. With clean water, people are healthier; they lead longer lives. With irrigation, they can grow food. With clean water, people can not only survive, but prosper. Children can resume their education. Women can be a part of the world. Any kind of prosperity begins with clean water.”

Yiapan’s parents moved with her from Kenya to the U.S. when she was still a baby. In 2002, while in her second year of college studying photography, Yiapan returned for two months to Kenya to visit her family. She was shocked at what she found.

“My father’s family lives the traditional Maasai tribal lifestyle,” Yiapan said. “They live in mud huts and earn their livelihood by herding goats and raising livestock.”

While preparing dinner with her family in the dry Maasai Mara area, Yiapan went out with some children to get water for dinner. She could not believe what she encountered.

“We went to a muddy hole in the ground with standing, stagnant water,” she said. “It was all that was available out there. Then I realized that people and animals were dying from the water they drank.”

Yiapan was determined to take action. She planned a show and sale of the photos she took while in Kenya. With the money, she planned to buy as many cattle as possible for the families in Kenya.

“My mom pointed out that, without clean water, those cows would also die,” Yiapan said. “It all came back to the need for water.”

When Yiapan met Evans through an ex-boyfriend, she told her new friend of her desire to start a foundation to bring water to people in need.

“Sarah said, ‘Let’s do it,’ and we got started,” Yiapan said.

Four years after their start, the two women have made miracles happen. Through garnering bids from drilling companies, securing water surveys, organizing drilling sites, managing workers and supporters and handling all the legalities, they drilled a successful water well in Oltinga, Kenya, in January. A second well is scheduled in August in Namangas.

How do they capture support and financing in a world filled with organizations that do good deeds and tug on heartstrings for public donations?

“We target a younger audience – people who wouldn’t otherwise focus on the issue,” Evans said. “We found what works best for us is getting people’s attention by being a bit bizarre. When you get their attention, people care.”

Well Aware recently organized a shower strike in Austin. Brave if somewhat aromatic participants refused to shower or bathe until each raised $1,000. The strike raised $25,000 in one week.

Evans and Yiapan have a new initiative in the works – the AfriGnome Project. Artists Rick Deleny and Zoe Charlton have created six one-of-a-kind ceramic gnomes set to travel the world to help spread the word about Well Aware, the lack of clean water in rural Kenya and ways everyone can help. The Gnomes will take six-month journeys beginning May 1 to visit sponsors and bring awareness to team efforts. Each has secured sponsorship for that first journey.

There are many ways to help Evans and Yiapan in their work. Go to their developing website, www.wellawareworld.org and make a donation or find out where to send a check. Visit www.afrignome.org to learn about and help support the AfriGnome Project. You can even travel to Kenya at the end of July through the middle of August to volunteer time and see the sights.

If nothing else, spread the word.

“We’ve learned that viral marketing is very powerful and very effective,” Evans said.

“Networking is so amazing,” Yiapan agreed. “Spread the word. You never know what random connection is going to lead to someone wonderful. Someone who can change the world.”