Local water projects near Ngilai, Northern Kenya, were disrupted due to the USAID funding loss in 2025. But local leaders are making sure the community’s priority to protect clean water sources remains front and center.
Leaders like Mzee (Elder) Leadekei.
“You know, our water doesn’t belong to anyone else
—it’s ours to steward.”
"[As funding sources change], it’s not that we will not achieve our goal to protect our water. It is that we will go much slower now. Like tortoises”
- Mzee Leadekei, Ngilai, Northern Kenya
Living like Tortoises
In Ngilai, water can be scarce.
Inclusion, community-led action, and hope are not.
Photography and Video by Roshni Lodhia
Meet Mzee (Elder) Leadekei.
He is a local elder—called a Mzee—in Ngilai, Northern Kenya. He chairs the local water users association and serves on the peacekeeping committee. His focus is simple but urgent: water.
“Water is life,” he says. In Samburu County, it is also scarce.
When water is protected, the whole community benefits. Families are protected from water-borne illnesses. Abundant water helps trees and grasslands stay healthy, which mitigates soil erosion and gullies where water runs off too quickly. Healthier grasslands also lead to healthier cattle—the community’s main source of food and income.
“Our environment has changed
since I was growing up,”
A Fork in the Road
Until early 2025, a USAID-funded project, Nawiri, had seemed to offer a solution through a planned water extension in Ngilai and support for River Ngeny Water Resource Users Association. That was until international stop-work orders brought the project to a halt.
But the need for clean, accessible water didn’t disappear.
Neither did the community’s understanding of its strengths and partnerships, which they can access to meet their challenges.
Through Legado's Thriving Futures Process, 91% of priorities that communities set for themselves are adopted by local government and institutions—meaning the groundwork Ngilai had already laid wasn't lost when international funding shifted.
The Thriving Futures Process is grounded in community action that supports local people to leverage resources or partnerships—even as they change—to enact their vision for a resilient landscape and flourishing community.
“Through convenings led by Legado, we decided to choose our priorities. Our places are degraded. Invasive species are spreading. We discussed how to protect our water sources,” Mzee Leadekei says.
A Small Thing Can Grow…
After going through the Thriving Futures Process with Legado, the community was determined to act—together. They committed to restoring grasslands and protecting water, using their own strengths and wisdom. For example, they began to fill gullies that blocked livestock and put children at risk on their way to school.
“Because of Legado convenings, everyone was included,” Mzee Leadekei says. “Women, elders, youth, even morans [young men] who herd animals—we all come together and make decisions.”
That inclusivity is the backbone of building a Thriving Future. Projects may move slower without external international funding coming in as predicted. But they move—and they do so with the community’s needs and vision at the center.
“We can struggle. We can work together. A small thing can grow to become a big thing,” Mzee Leadekei shared. “We cannot stop and wait for support. We keep things moving, welcoming partners and using the resources available.”
Mzee Leadekei’s legacy is clear: well-conserved land and water for future generations.
“If someone shows you a way in a journey and he disappears, you will not stop or go back. You will continue and reach your destination. … We will continue pushing until we reach our destination,” he said.
Just like tortoises.
To learn more about Legado’s partnership in Ngilai, Northern Kenya, click here.
All photos and videos are courtesy of Roshni Lodhia on behalf of Legado.
For our 5-minute film featuring women leading 360°
Commnity-Led Change in Northern Kenya, click here.