Guyana is called the “land of many waters.” But until she was in college, Benita Davis never truly understood the fundamental importance of water. Then a trip to Guyana’s interior opened her eyes to the myriad ways that mining and oil exploration are hurting her country’s rivers, lakes, and streams. The time she spent in the Kaieteur National Park—living off the land and the river alongside Indigenous communities—showed her the destructive impact these activities were having on those communities, and inspired her to educate her compatriots about the importance of protecting freshwater resources. Today, as a guardian of those waters, Benita is on the front lines of the battle to protect this precious natural resource.