In 2023, two moments in and around Zinder, Niger, changed how I think about water security, both during the rainy season, when water appears everywhere. Along a highway, families filled containers from reddish-brown pools stained by the soil, water for drinking. Weeks later in the city, a woman offered me a cloudy glass harvested from her rooftop, because safe water was kilometres away. Water was present in both. Security was not. A simple lesson: availability is not the same

The headlines call this a heatwave. But from rivers you can walk across to floods mid-drought, climate change is felt through water and this summer, the water is telling us to act now.

Six sessions. Hundreds of water communicators from many countries. Here's what the SIWI Water in Communications 2026 training taught me about telling water stories that actually land.

From the rivers of Liberia to the global stage, Lucia N. Yeenee shares how water has shaped her life, her purpose, and her storytelling. In this reflection, she explores how lived experiences can become powerful tools for change and why stories must lead the conversation on water and climate resilience.