International Water and Health Alliances

What it reported doing in 2025

The Friends of the Old (FOTO) office is in the town of Katito in Lower Nyakach, Kenya. The biggest city nearby, an hour by matatu, is Kisumu, where FOTO has its post office box. The FOTO staff has 28 women, two each in the 13 locations who deliver FOTO projects and act as social workers for the elderly, Project Director Dinah Chienjo and Office Assistant Lydia Treeza Ouma and three men (Project Coordinator Joseph Abende, Computer Instructor Michael Chienjo, and Security Officer Fredrick Orondo). IWHA pays their monthly salary, social security, and national health insurance fees.FOTOs main project is implementing a replicable strategy to eliminate waterborne disease for the 70,000 citizens of Lower Nyakach who have only unimproved, contaminated drinking water sources. The strategy involves FOTO staff conducting microbial testing at the community level using the 10 ml Colilert test and the 1.0 ml quantitative E. coli Petrifilm test to demonstrate to citizens that drinking water sources pose a very high disease risk. IWHA monthly provides FOTO with funds for distribution of 9,300 150 ml bottles of Aquaguard chlorine to households and schools to disinfect contaminated water sources. Colilert and Petrifilm testing before and after treating water with Aquaguard provide striking visual evidence that treating water with Aquaguard kills bacteria and makes water safe to drink.The FOTO project in Lower Nyakach is the one place in the world where a community-based organization has implemented a strategy to eliminate waterborne disease. The FOTO strategy could be replicated in villages worldwide where two billion people do not have access to safe drinking water. As in previous years since 2011, IWHA funded monthly distribution of ~200 reading glasses to the elderly in one of the 13 locations, to restore the dignity and usefulness of reading and doing close work, as there are no inexpensive reading glasses in Kenya. Knowing that hunger is widespread in Lower Nyakach, at each distribution, IWHA provided $100 extra so that the FOTO staff could provide glasses recipients with a filling meal of rice and beans in addition to mandazis (donut-like pastries) and Kenya tea (with milk and spices). There is much joy at the distributions, as old friends see each other again, they have a good meal, and they receive a quality pair of reading glasses. To address the problem of hunger and food insecurity, IWHA once again provided FOTO with funds to purchase and distribute 2600 2kg packages of certified Serado sorghum seed to 200 impoverished elderly households in each of the 13 locations. Households were selected by consultation with chiefs and village elders. With sufficient rain, there was a good harvest in June & July providing 2-3 90kg bags of sorghum to be the main source of household food for much of the year. As in previous years, FOTO provided useful items to the community. In December 2025, 3,000 monthly 2026 pocket calendars & pens were given to teachers, chiefs, village elders, government officials, and thousands of citizens. In December 2025, IWHA paid for FOTO to purchase and distribute 8,000 16x23 FOTO 2026 wall calendars, three pages each with 4 months. The main photo on the first page, January-April, is of the FOTO staff with new shirts in front of the FOTO office. The second main photo shows women recipients of 2 kg bags of certified Serado seed. The third page main photo is of Mary Otieno, VAF, Rangul Location, teaching hand washing at Kanyalwal Primary School. The top of each page has FOTOs and IWHAs logos and the statement The Goal is Zero (waterborne disease). The bottom of each page has the Kenya 2010 constitution statement that Every person has the right to clean and safe water in adequate quantities. In 2025, 21 USA IWHA donors sponsored 53 secondary school girls in forms 2-4, paying all school fees and supplies. As Kenya increased primary school from 8 to 9 years in 2025, there was no Form 1 class in secondary school in 2025. A uni

Financial Efficiency

• Mission deployment rate: 81.5%; rating input score 82
• Program expense ratio: 86.9%; rating input score 87

Transparency & Controls

• Consistency checks: 100%; rating input score 100; 52nd percentile among comparable filings
• Major donor itemization: Yes; rating input score 100

Sustainability

• Operating margin: 6.2%; rating input score 47; 47th percentile among comparable filings
• Total-asset coverage ratio: 0.18; rating input score 18; 18th percentile among comparable filings
• Liabilities to assets ratio: Limited
• Officer compensation ratio: 0%; rating input score 63; 63rd percentile among comparable filings

Growth

• Program expense growth: 5.1% per year; rating input score 100; 45th percentile among comparable filings
• Revenue growth: 5.7% per year; rating input score 100; 48th percentile among comparable filings
• Asset growth: 8.4% per year; rating input score 100; 54th percentile among comparable filings