AMREF’s Water Projects:
Providing Stability amid Crisis – One Well at a Time
Since time immemorial, the Masai community in Loitoktok, Kenya, has been a nomadic people depending primarily on livestock for food and livelihood. Over the past three years, as in many other areas across East Africa, proper rainfalls were missing. Large numbers of cattle died and the community suffered. It became evident that the community had to find new means to provide for themselves. To ensure survival, change was inevitable.
AMREF has been working with African communities for more than 50 years, creating lasting health solutions. In many parts of the continent, we have provided clean and sustainable sources of water, which have greatly reduced diseases and sustained livelihoods.
Another Well, Another Community Saved!
Here, in Loitoktok, we worked with the community to explore new options for earning an income that would ensure survival. The community decided together with AMREF that farming was the best way forward.
Joyce Simon whose family depended entirely on livestock herding was one of the first community members to sign up. In her opinion, she had nothing to lose. Joyce’s husband agreed to donate part of his land for this venture. They selected twenty members of the community, and together they started to till the land and plant crops. “We were reluctant at first because that was unchartered territory for us. I have no regrets, and I am happy.”
AMREF built a large well, accessing rich, sustainable supplies of clean water deep in the ground. A generator pumps water from the well into the farm through pipes that are located at strategic places throughout the acreage of the land.
As the drought intensified in Kenya and across East Africa, it has become clear that this initiative was a godsend. While other communities are struggling to survive amid food shortages and drought-related diseases, this community is prospering.
Never in a million years did Joyce think that she would embrace farming, but with the positive results that she has seen so far, she is delighted about her move. Currently, AMREF is constructing eight additional wells in the Loitoktok district to help communities weather the devastating impact of the drought and thrive in future.
The Water Pipeline Project
AMREF water projects vary in size and extend from the deployment of tanks for rain water collection for schools to the construction of large wells that provide clean water to dozens of communities.
There was plenty of clean, fresh water available to the Olmapinu community, located in the vicinity of Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania. The problem here was that the source of all of this clean water was about six miles away from the village. As Kara Kapali, one of the communities eldest recollects: “Access to water was a huge problem for my people as we had to walk very long distances to get it.” The journey to and from can take up to an entire day. Since the responsibility of obtaining water generally falls on women and children, families have to make tough choices, meaning younger children help their moms get water instead of going to school. But “life took a turn for the best” when the community and AMREF started working together.
Soon, in partnership with community members, AMREF dug a pipeline covering the six-miles to Olmapinu. Along the pipeline, seven “water kiosks” were built, after it was decided that people from other communities could also access the water supply. As with all of our water projects, the community took on the responsibility for management and maintenance of the facility. Community ownership and early knowledge transfer from AMREF to community members ensure that the new water sources are functional for many years to come. In Olmapinu, the community formed water committees to manage the distribution of the water supply and maintenance of the pipeline. A small monthly contribution by the beneficiaries covers the maintenance and repair cost.
The pipeline has been a big success. Encouraged by the improved overall health and economic growth of their neighbors, community members extended the pipeline by another four miles, so that additional communities in the Kilimanjaro region could have access to clean, safe water.
The Lasting Impact of AMREF’s Water Projects
Water is often the starting point for building healthier communities. AMREF’s projects provide communities across Africa with clean water from sustainable sources to prevent water-borne disease, free up women’s and children’s time for education and economic development and – very important during the current drought – reduce the vulnerability of communities to increasingly frequent and severe climate-related disasters.
As a response to the drought in East Africa, AMREF is providing emergency assistance including food, medical help and clean water. In addition to hauling in drinking water for schools and even entire communities in ravaged areas, AMREF is currently drilling or rehabilitating more than 100 additional shallow wells and boreholes in Kenya alone to ensure a healthier, more prosperous and safer future for suffering communities. Please make a gift today to help transform and save lives in drought areas and across Africa.
