I started doing this in March 2016. There was a very big drought and it killed a huge number of animals [editor’s note: the entire country was experiencing a drought at this time].



I found a buffalo sniffing at an empty water hole; it was clearly very thirsty. Then it just clicked in my mind. When thirsty animals try to find water, they often go to where humans live. This creates conflict between humans and animals, who sometimes kill or injure one another, and property gets destroyed. So rather than them come to us, I wanted to bring water to them.





Mwalua filling up a watering hole.



I rented a truck from a town called Voi, and started making the 140-kilometre round trip from the town to the watering hole up to five times a day. By the time I got home in the evening, it was dark. Initially, I used my own money to rent the truck and buy water from the local water authority [at around €27 per 10,000 litres], but eventually people started chipping and I was able to buy a vehicle.

At first, a lot of people told me, “Let nature take its course.” But I said, “This is not nature, it’s global warming. It’s the fault of what human beings are doing, and we’re supposed to be responsible for our actions.”