The Krista Roth Water Tanks: How Krista’s Life and Sudden Death Impacted the Global Water Crisis
“I’ve seen the problems caused by not having access to safe water. I’ve met students who have to walk miles a day to fetch water and who have lost family members due to water-related diseases.
It doesn’t have to be that way.
There are solutions and I am committed to doing what I can to impact the global water crisis.”
- Krista Roth
Finding a Passion to End the Global Water Crisis
trips with can do kids spark a new passion in krista
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 Impact 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. Below are pictures from each of Krista’s visits.
Krista (age 13) sits with women from the Kikuyu tribe on her first visit to Kenya.
Krista (age 17) competes in a potato sack race with a Kenyan Can Do Kids Club on her second visit to Kenya.
Krista (age 19) meets members of the Masai tribe on her third visit to Kenya.
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.
Making a Dent in the Global Water Crisis: The Impact Following Krista’s Sudden Passing
A painting by Allison Ganther, a high school friend of Krista’s, in tribute to Krista’s sudden passing.
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. Even though we had seen different large amounts of funding come in before, we were shocked to see the amounts that came in tribute to Krista. One donation we received, an anonymous donation of $70,000, was the largest one-time donation Can Do Kids had ever received! This was in addition to other financial support coming in from Krista’s family, friends, college marching band, and other groups. In total, more than $200,000 has been donated in Krista’s memory! While some of the funding has been designated towards other causes Krista was passionate about, such as developing sustainable ministry in Ukraine and conserving the rainforest in Costa Rica, the majority has been used to support her goal of ending the global water crisis.
In total, this “wave” of support and funding has rolled out a total of 18 water tanks! As these tanks are new and many are still being constructed, we only have the full data collected for 7 out of the 18 tanks. From these seven tanks alone, 18,608 people (mostly school children) are being served with clean water! And because that total is from less than half of the tanks, it’s safe to estimate that at least twice as many people, even close to 50,000 are being served with first-ever on-site access to clean water!
Scroll through the gallery below to see a few of the water tanks that have been sponsored from funds donated in Krista’s memory.
From right to left: First three pictures: Munyutha Tank (commissioned), Githagara Primary Tank (pictured in construction), Mugoiri Secondary Tank (pictured in construction), Muchungucha Community Tank (two pictures) (pictured in construction), Yamugwe Tank (pictured in construction)
How You Can Partner with Can Do Kids to End the Global Water Crisis
Donate towards Water Tanks in Krista’s memory.
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Students from Yamugwe School who now have access to clean water.
Because of Krista (A Note From her sister Kayley who is writing this blog)
One story that stands out about Krista is how she used to get ice cream. Though she would not be busy herself, Krista would somehow persuade one of us (usually me or my mom) - even if we were busy - to drive to Dairy Queen and buy her a Blizzard. Occasionally, she would give us money for a treat ourselves, but in most cases, she would not. The ice cream was purchased and delivered because of Krista, but not actually by her.
In a strange way, these old memories of making Dairy Queen runs for Krista have comforted me about her loss. Seeing all this funding come in, the wells being built, and a dent in the global water crisis being made not by Krista, but because of her seems so fitting. If anyone would be at the root of accomplishing big things but not actually there to carry out the process themselves, it would be her!
While we continue to grieve that she is not here, it has been both a joy and even a shock to see all that God has brought about because of Krista.
If you have any Krista stories, comments about the global water crisis or simply something to share, please don’t be shy to use the comments section below!