About US – Drop for Africa

The origin of our Foundation

Find out why helping is worthwhile and what exactly can stem from such help.

In March 2019, my Dad died. Before this happened, I tried to help him. I took him from Ełkand to my place, to Marcinkowice near Wrocław, so that the local doctors would be able take care of him. Unfortunately, it was too late. After my father died, I decided to leave for some time. I decided on Kenya, which I was familiar with from previous tourist trips.

Two months after the funeral I hit the road, not before contacting an old friend from Kenya whom I once helped. I was flying with the decision that I had to do something, give a little, help others. The difficult situation of the people living there wasn’t lost on me previously, but only when I got there I really understood what they were facing.

I arrived in Mombasa where my friend Sadi was waiting for me. From the airport we drove to his hometown, Kilifi, where I rented a cottage for twelve days. Two hours later Sadi took me to his family – his wife and three kids. They lived in a small house, four by four meters, covered with trapezoidal sheeting. The sheeting, just like the window and the door, was a giftfrom me from eight years ago. Sadi, wanting to commemorate that help, prepared a sapling, which I planted next to his house. Now, after a few years, the tree looked great.

In the eight years that have passed since our last meeting, Sadi had built the walls of another four-by-four room with the money he earned from the safari. After a short conversation with Sadi and his family, I decided that during my stay I would help them finish this long-awaited second room. Next day at dawn we went to collect materials – to finish the walls, the roof, floor, and to install the window and door.

Twelve days turned out long enough for us to do it. In the meantime, Sadi and I went to an Orphanage that I had visited last time. We bought a lot of food, and I also took clothes I had brought from Poland to gift to the children.

The next day we went into the bush to visit Sadi’s mother. She was an elderly, afflicted woman who, despite problems with her joints, walked every day to get water – seven kilometers in one direction.

It was then that I realized the magnitude of the problem with which the African people struggle every day. 30% of people live in total poverty and 50% of them have no access to clean water. The water they draw from ditches and rivers should be filtered and purified with disinfecting tablets, which they simply have no access to. As a result many people, especially children, get sick and often die.

In an instant I knew what I was going to do from that point on in my life. I decided that I would build wells to the best of my resources. Three weeks later I was back, building my first well, which I dedicated to the memory of my late Dad. Hence the name of the project – Project Ryszard 1 – water for the people of Kenya.

A few months later, in August 2019, I returned to Kenya again to implement project number two – that is, to build another well. After returning to Poland, I knew I had to do more. I decided to set up a Foundation called “Drop for Africa”.