Water Projects
Helping solve the world’s water crisis
Like most midwestern teens, the statistic that 771 million people lack access to safe water was not on Krista’s mind. The idea of connecting with others and making a difference across the world were not on her radar. Little did she know that even at the young age of thirteen, God would begin shaping her life to create in her a passion to end the global water crisis.
Her story of finding a passion to end the water crisis began when she made her first trip to rural Kenya as an eighth-grader. Though her parents didn’t originally want to take Krista on their first-ever trip to Africa, Krista’s unrelenting persistence ensured that both her and her 16-year-old sister came along. Making new friends in Kenya and developing an awareness of the dire circumstances they had to face, Krista returned with growing intrigue to Kenya at age 17 and then again when she was 19.
Throughout her teen years, Krista began to form her own unique set of skills. As a meme creator, photoshop expert and video editor, Krista began to use her developing expertise to put the global water crisis in focus. Below is a video Krista made combining her skills to help others better understand the need for clean water.
KRISTA’S COLLEGE EXPERIENCE: EXPLORING A CAREER IN SOLVING THE GLOBAL WATER CRISIS
Nearing the end of her college experience at the University of Illinois, Krista had two internships that took not only her passion, but also her skills to solve the global water crisis to the next level. The first was when she worked as an undergraduate assistant for the Xiao Su Group to develop new processes for water purification and renewal. The second was a summer-long internship at Water Mission, whose mission is to “to honor God by developing, implementing, and sharing best-in-class safe water solutions that transform as many lives as possible, as quickly as possible”.
If the first internship placed in Krista the idea that with a Chemical Engineering degree, she could have a career in ending the global water crisis, then her second internship at Water Mission solidified it. Here is a link to a website she made for her potential employers to showcase the work she had done thus far and express her desire to continue working towards ending the global water crisis in the future.
WAVE OF IMPACT
On January 20th, 2021, Krista was caught in the dangerous waves of Puerto Viejo de Talamanca, Costa Rica and her time on earth came to a sudden close. As we grieved the loss of Krista, it quickly became apparent that God was not yet finished using Krista’s passion to end the global water crisis.
Shortly after her passing, we (Krista’s family) began to receive cards, facebook donations and other gifts in Krista’s honor. In total, this “wave” of support and funding has rolled out a total of 18 water tanks! It is safe to estimate that more than 50,000 kids and their families are being served with first-ever, on-site access to clean water!
