Water is Life Kenya (WILK) was founded 15 years ago by Joyce Tannian of Newark, DE and Joseph Larasha of Kenya. But founding an international nonprofit wasn’t Joyce’s initial career path. A singer by trade, she performed in different venues across the East Coast, contributing to choirs and operas as a mezzo soprano.
After years of leading successful operations at WILK, Joyce is keeping both the dream of clean water and her musical talents alive. On Sunday, October 16th, 2022, she performed a collaborative, celebratory concert with Rob Kennan called Music, Water & Life. Joyce sang as she has been since the inception of WILK: in a state of joyful anticipation, for a hopeful future, and to put love into action.
Music—The Unseen Spirit of WILK
WILK’s origin story traces back to 2001. Pursuing a singing career in New York City, Joyce witnessed the terrorist attacks of September 11 and the coming-together that happened afterward. The events of that day moved her deeply, leading her to ask, “What would it look like to put love in action?” Answering this question through volunteer work, delivering food to the hungry in NYC, visiting the chronically ill, and a trip to Kenya that revealed the lack of easy access to education, Joyce found herself halfway across the globe on a walk for women’s education in Kenya. There, she saw the daily struggle of poverty-stricken communities to gather water daily as a barrier to development, education, liberation, and resilience.
Alongside Maasai elder Joseph Larasha, Joyce dedicated her life to bringing water to these communities. Fast forward 15 years and these two have led the completion of 25 clean water projects, 627 graduates of the Livestock As A Business program, and 70,000 individuals with reliable clean water. It’s with this track record that WILK begins celebrating 15 years of success, recognizing that a tremendous amount of work lies ahead.
Water is Life Kenya began with the spirit of Joyce’s musical talents mobilizing love, possibility, and devotion into action for the service of others. 15 years later, music provides spiritual fuel and strong way to communicate and connect about Joyce’s mission to help those in need and inspire those who want to help.
Music, Water & Life
In conjunction with Newark United Methodist Church and pianist, baritone Rob Kennan, Joyce led the celebration of 15 years of Water is Life Kenya at the collaborative Music, Water & Life concert on Sunday, October 16, 2022. The two-act performance was joined by the NUMC Youth Choir and longtime WILK friend Joe Ambrosino after intermission.
The first act featured German and Russian classics from Johannes Brahms and Sergei Rachmaninoff, and a rendition of the traditional Irish folk song “She Moved Through the Fair.” Moving on to some of Joyce’s Broadway favorites, she performed a duet with Rob (“Do You Love Me?” from Joseph Stein’s Fiddler on the Roof) which enlivened the audience, moving them to laughter, smiles, and tears. Next came foreign language show tunes, including Surabaya Johnny, Nocturne, Nana, followed by Black Coffee, performed in English.
Before intermission, Joyce shared with the crowd what the spirit of Kenya sounds like with a Kiswahili rendition of How Great Thou Art, with a final verse in English which was joined by an engaged audience. The first act ended with another traditional hymn, Hall Johnson’s Ride on King Jesus, a powerful song that gave a sense of hope to everyone listening.
After intermission, Joyce premiered a musical rendition of Mary Oliver’s poem “Lingering in Happiness,” a world premiere, with music composed by Chris Walters. the NUMC’s Youth Choir contributed their voices to the concert. singing “Sisi Ni Moja,” which in Kiswahili means “We are one.” For this song, they were accompanied by the NUMC Choral Scholars. Joyce and the Youth Choir were then joined by guest percussionist, the wonderful Joe Ambrosino, for the special performance of the night: the emphatic and evocative “Prayer for Water,” an improvised piece for percussion and vocalist. An energized crowd closed the night by singing along with Joyce in the evening’s last song, “Water” by Eduard Glumov & Kate Northrop.
Moved by music and the same spirit that founded this charitable heart-work 15 years ago, the audience found themselves inspired, hopeful, and a part of something bigger than themselves. Made up of both long-time donors and new friends, this crowd was treated by this magical night, made possible by the generous contributions of Rob, Joyce, Joe, and the NUMC family.
From Inspiration to Action – An Appeal During Drought
At the end of the concert, Joyce shared closing remarks that helped all in attendance gain a sense of place and perspective. In a few powerful minutes, she shared about the horrors endured by the people WILK serves in Southern Kenya who are currently enduring the worst regional drought in 40 years. The drought has caused livestock, the primary subsistence of Maasai people to die, devastating incomes. Along with rising inflation, food prices are skyrocketing as the poor harvest caused a shortage of food staples. The situation is not expected to improve anytime soon, though WILK is praying for the rainy season this November and December to be productive.
Joyce announced the launch of the 2022 Drought Relief Campaign which will deliver food staples such as maize, beans, and cooking oil to 1,000 Maasai families in the next couple of weeks. Donations collected for this campaign will be used to feed up to 8,000 people who have been affected the most by the dire circumstances caused from more than two years of drought.
Following the concert, a reception was held as a thank you for those who could attend. Old and new faces came together for refreshments and conversation. Sales from handicrafts, including hand-beaded jewelry made by Maasai women, along with single donations helped us meet 25% of the campaign goal in just one evening.
It’s contributions from the Water is Life Kenya community that allow us to make such a huge impact for those who need it most. Thank you for your continued support of the Maasai community in Kenya.
