Why Care About Grass?

Traditional Maasai livestock keepers are strongly conservative in terms of preserving their culture and way of doing things, including grazing habits. Pastoralists decide how and where to graze their animals in communal grazing areas, but they have never been trained about the impact of managed grazing.

85% of Maasai income comes from livestock, but livestock can only be healthy and sellable if they eat well. This means that managing pasture strategically is critical to economic stability.

While some Maasai lost everything in the recent three-year drought, they haven’t taken advantage of the abundant grass growing now that it’s raining again. And the one thing we know is that another drought will occur eventually. We need to prepare now to prevent the loss of livestock.

Illiteracy is also a major hurdle in the communities where we work, so we have found that effective, practical education is key. Investing in education on this critical topic could make a huge difference. Even if 10-20% of the nearly 12,000 livestock farmers in this region start sharing this vision, the ecosystem can be greener and more prosperous within three years.

Our Plan for Pasture

Livestock keepers participating in our LAB program managed to keep their animals alive during the recent drought. This is due to skillful pasture conservation and planning ahead.

We decided to bring this same method to the Grazing Management Committee (GMC) leaders through a new program called Planning for Pasture. First we spent time understanding their needs. Then we developed a curriculum to empower all GMCs to train community members and build cooperation between them.

We teach the committees to set goals and then develop indicators to measure success. We also teach drought cycle management and pasture conservation. Finally, we “train the trainers to train” by assigning topics to the committee members. This lets them practice teaching and designing lesson plans which prepares them to teach their communities later on.

So far, the responses from the 176 people we have trained have been extremely positive. Several members said, “We’ve never had training like this before. When are you coming back?”

Setting Maasai Up for Success

We are successful because we partner with and in communities to build lasting capacity—rather than dictate policies from a desk thousands of miles away. Together with the GMCs, we have begun promoting the vision of a “3D Free Zone”—a “No Death During Drought Zone.”

You can help us support Maasai grass managers by contributing to our Planning for Pasture Campaign. Doing so will lead to more secure household income because of stable animal body conditions and fewer fluctuations in animal values, which means less stress and more prosperity for families.

We are nearly halfway to our goal of $48,800 for this project. Your gift—at any level—will get us closer to providing the education and support that Maasai need to thrive in their challenging environment.

Grazing management is a natural extension of our work, which provides clean water and livestock business skills. This level of planning and education will go a long way in guaranteeing a healthy and prosperous future for Maasai and their ecosystem. With a shared vision and cooperation fostered by a strong community training program, the crazy ups and downs caused by the drought can finally be a thing of the past.

The post Planning for Pasture: Helping Maasai Avoid Livestock Loss During Drought appeared first on Water is Life Kenya.

There are both immediate and future repercussions from this overabundance of rain hitting Kenya. Let’s look at what’s happening in and around Kajaido County now as well as at what likely will happen next.

Water, Water Everywhere

Kenyans have seen record rainfall during the 2024 rainy season. Heavy rains, exacerbated by the Indian Ocean Dipole, are causing dangerous flood conditions along western Kenya. In Kajaido County, some roads are impassable. So far, over 200,000 people have been displaced because of flooding caused by constant rain.

But flooding is only the most obvious result of this severe weather. Landslides (or mudslides) and soil erosion also occur because the now-saturated soil can’t absorb the deluge. Last month, a landslide killed more than 40 people in Mai Mahiu, Naruku County (north of Kajiado County). And, at about this time last year, heavy rains during the rainy season caused similar environmental challenges.

For Water is Life Kenya (WILK) specifically, work is on hold. We can’t complete the borehole installation in Lositeti until the rains stop. Because our Livestock as a Business (LAB) and Hope for Widows programs meet outdoors, we have to wait for the weather to clear before we can train more people. Basically, everything is on pause while the rain falls.

When It Rains, It Pours

The floods are a problem now, and they’ll cause additional problems in the future. Land degradation is the most dangerous result: fertile soil washes away in the floodwaters and, when the rain finally stops, the land creates huge cracks and ravines get bigger. Flooding, then, will exacerbate desertification as much as drought.

Animals, too, suffer from changing soil conditions. Our friend Michael Lankoi, who told us about Lositeti’s need for a borehole, lost all of his cows when he was in search of water. They tried to drink from a difficult-to-access ravine after the sediment moved because of last year’s floods. Unfortunately, they couldn’t climb back up out of the ravine, which is where they died.

Nutrients crucial to crop cultivation are also lost, and pollutants settle in the ground. The remaining water from the floods often carries disease, which affects crops, people, and animals. So not only is the potential for food insecurity an issue, the overall health of the region is compromised.

What We Can Do

There’s no way to control the weather, and climate change is causing weather patterns to shift drastically. What we can do, however, is continue to support our communities in Kajiado County. The main way for us to accomplish this is to provide clean, reliable sources of water that both people and animals can use.

It may seem contradictory to talk about water when there’s so much rain falling. But remember that Kajiado County suffered for three years under severe drought conditions. The rain is heavy now, but it won’t last. And when the water dries up, we have to be prepared for the potential of another long drought.

We’ve learned to adapt to unpredictable weather by preparing communities as much as possible. We hope that, with the addition of training our Grazing Management Committees, we’ll find a way to help our friends weather the storm.

The post What Happens When the Rain Won’t Stop Falling appeared first on Water is Life Kenya.

In honor of World Day of Social Justice, let’s take a look at how our focus on people has enabled us to continue supporting Maasai as they overcome life in the unforgiving, beautiful land they call home.

Seeking People-Specific Solutions

The area where we work in Keyna, central and southern Kajiado County, may seem limited. But with scarce resources and social isolation, the people who live there need our help the most. These resources include basic necessities, like water, that we don’t even think about. And because people live so far away from each other, the cost to obtain these resources is usually out of reach.

Only after we learn about a community and its culture can we offer the best method of assistance. Therefore, we drive on rough roads to rural locations, set up chairs in the shade, and listen to what people have to say. Once we realize what their needs are, we figure out ways to help them help themselves—whether that’s by constructing boreholes, offering income-generating programs and training sessions, or, in some circumstances, just distributing food.

Ways We Help

The projects and programs we offer have evolved since WILK started operating in 2007. We began with Clean Water (WASH) Projects, since water is the key to living in this semi-arid region. But water isn’t free, so a steady income is also a necessity for Maasai living near our boreholes. We began the Livestock as a Business (LAB) Program as a way to mitigate the cost of maintaining the boreholes, which is part of the reason why our water projects are so successful.

Our LAB program is also important because there are no Maasai without cattle. The income in this region comes from livestock, and people needed better skills to manage their herds. Livestock benefit from fresh water, disease treatment, and grass storage. We’ve developed LAB lessons to teach different methods that improve cattle quality and, therefore, bring in more money from the market.

We also don’t leave people in the lurch. For instance, when we realized that widows were struggling to meet their daily needs and couldn’t obtain their rightful land, we developed the Hope for Widows Program. By developing businesses, widows could afford their land deeds and take care of themselves and their children. All of these programs work because we take a personalized approach to serving Maasai communities.

Facing—and Bringing—Challenges

Every now and then, someone needs a boost. Considering the many obstacles Maasai face, we are constantly listening and learning about outside factors that might hinder progress for program participants. Last year, for instance, we noticed that some of the women in our Hope for Widows program weren’t saving money for their businesses. Remember that most of them were still dealing with the three-year-long drought that plagued Kenya. Instead of saving and reinvesting their profits, women were using any profit from their businesses to pay for personal expenses like food, school fees, and other daily needs.

It became clear that they needed an incentive to save more money (and keep their funds separated). To inspire greater savings, we pitched a savings competition: the five women with the highest savings would have their savings doubled. A few weeks later, we checked their savings boxes. The top earners had saved between $20 and $30 (around 2,000 to 3,000 Kenyan shillings). They were running strong businesses, their savings were doubled, and they were proud of themselves.

What we’ve learned from our community development work over the past 17 years is that empowering others is a formula. We design ways to help them succeed, and we celebrate them with each goal they achieve. These women bore the brunt of the drought head-on and, against the odds, they were able to turn a profit, send their kids to school, and save money on a shoestring budget. We’ll continue to help them navigate problems like climate change and poverty because we know they can succeed.

We Can Do Even More

There’s so much we take for granted in the United States—clean water, a prosperous economy, substantial rain. But in Kenya, none of these are guaranteed. Our presence on the ground and our commitment to help these communities flourish is still needed.

But unlike other organizations who care about numbers more than people, WILK puts Love into Action. We always keep the beneficiaries—who are real people—at the heart of what we do because they deserve to live in a stable environment, have access to clean water, earn an education, and practice their cultural traditions.

We care about our Maasai friends in Kenya and want to help them thrive. We’ll continue to serve them in ways that make sense culturally, strategically, and personally. And we’ll continue to find new, exciting ways to support them as we work together, along with our donors, for lasting change.

The post How to Affect Lasting Changes: People-Centered Work in Kenya appeared first on Water is Life Kenya.

New Water Projects

Our donors helped us and those whom we serve get through the ferocious drought. The generosity of our WILK community funded water projects, food relief, and the restocking of livestock. The supply of clean water from our dozens of water projects also supported life and kept people clean and healthy.

This year, with your generosity combined with the power of strong partnerships, our Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) Program will bring more clean water to at least three new communities in southern Kenya: Lositeti, Olmoti, and Olasiti. Currently, we’re standing by with the drilling machine to break ground in Lositeti for their water project.

Continuing the LAB Reboot

WILK’s Livestock as a Business (LAB) Program has been teaching many farmers critical skills. LAB members, past and present, reported that most of their livestock survived the drought. Some goals of LAB’s training are to improve the management of and increase the income from livestock, the main source of income in our region. And it works. Learned skills (pasture conservation, disease prevention and control, well-timed buying and selling of livestock, and drought cycle management) empower livestock farmers to manage their resources and keep their animals alive, their families fed, and their children in school.

WILK’S LAB program reboot is going strong. Nine groups received training and livestock loans this past fall. The cattle purchased with livestock loans in November and December are fattening nicely and will bring profit to the groups.

Currently, more women’s groups than men’s groups want to join LAB. But we found higher-than-expected livestock losses in some families of women LAB members. Although we train them, when it comes to actual decisions all these women can do is say to their husbands, “We learned it’s good to sell livestock on time, before they are too skinny, and use the money from the sale to manage our other cows.” Not every husband listened to his wife, so cows died. We plan to extend this program to reach more men, who make the decisions for livestock in their families.

Our own Livestock Farmers – Larasha and Nelson

At the cattle restocking ceremony last year, we gave a mini-LAB lesson to the recipients of the livestock and the other attendees. The reception of the message was good, especially since the benefits of the training were obvious. WILK co-founder, Joseph Larasha, hosted the ceremony at his home in front of his newly constructed animal feed store.

He said, “You can feed cows at home and save your cows. When cows stay home, they save energy and don’t need as much food since they no longer walk long distances.” People saw how healthy and numerous his cows were. They also saw the feed store, which he’s filling with food to prepare for the next drought.

Nelson Tinayo, WILK field officer and member of the Ilmarba Livestock Farmer Group (which lost cows during the drought), shared his experience at the ceremony: “There is no reason for the drought to kill cows if we store food for our cows and sell at the right time. You need to look at your capacity to feed the cows you have. When you can’t feed them all, sell some to buy food for others and those will survive.”

The LAB Graduate Cooperative

One powerful tool for training is through the new livestock cooperative formed by individuals who are members of graduated groups. In Kenya, a cooperative is “a self-governing group of people who have come together to address their economic, social, and cultural needs and aspirations through a business that they own and control democratically.”

The Nashumu Cooperative (meaning “to lift up”) was formed in 2019 to promote continuing economic development and a community of smart livestock farmers. The 45 cooperative members come out of livestock farmer groups that completed four years of the LAB program. They didn’t want to lose the benefits of training, good community spirit, continuous learning, and camaraderie of the LAB program. Their main activities are to buy, fatten, and market livestock.

With support from WILK in 2024, the cooperative can be a powerful example of successful livestock keeping in WILK’s work region and a force to propel recovery from the drought. A main area of focus for both LAB and the cooperative will be to implement and provide good examples of pasture conservation and improvement, focusing on the construction of stores, improvement, and protection of grasslands.

Look for More from WILK

With your support, we look forward to great things ahead as we work together for a 2024 full of growth and prosperity. Thank you for ALL YOUR GENEROUS SUPPORT, and best wishes for a brilliant year ahead!

Much Love,

Joyce Tannian and the WILK USA and WILK Kenya teams

The post The Year Ahead: WILK’s Goals for 2024 appeared first on Water is Life Kenya.

50 Families Have Cows and Goats

The recent drought in Kenya, the worst in 40 years, devastated families across the region. Over the last several months, there’s been enough rain to pool areas of water and encourage grass growth, both of which are needed so cultivated livestock can survive.

While we waited for conditions to become sustainable, we trained three new and six reactivated LAB groups. Previous participants welcomed back the LAB program, which has taught livestock management and disease prevention since 2011. New participants also received training over the summer as a way to prepare them for their cows and goats.

In December, we purchased the livestock from the market. Our donor community helped us buy a total of 25 cows and 50 goats. A person received either two goats or one cow, which means that 50 families benefitted from the Restock & Restore Campaign. One woman even walked five miles to the meet-up spot—without shoes on. When our team asked if she needed to borrow a pair to walk back, she said, “I have a cow now—I don’t need shoes.”

Lives Have Changed Already

Cows and goats change everything for families in need. Especially after the long drought, livestock gives hope to people who lost animals and income. Those who own cows are given more respect by their peers—and have more confidence in themselves. Cows are a long-term investment for Maasai livestock farmers. They equal currency and can either be used as payment or sold for money. They’re also an important, inherent part of Maasai culture, both in ceremonial and practical use.

As an organization that relies on donor funds, we at Water is Life Kenya want to use our hard-won resources in the right way to get the desired results. We understand that the first step is to help people develop as individuals before transformation can happen at the family and community levels. Part of our mission is to equip Maasai with tools that develop income through improved resource management. Getting high-impact results in human development provides the evidence our generous donors need to know that their money is being used well.

We support Maasai livestock farmers, both in and beyond the LAB program, so that they can continue this long-practiced tradition. Livestock is life for Maasai and, through sharing what they learned, LAB graduates are spreading prosperity throughout their communities.

Entering the New Year with Cows

This first distribution inspired great hope in the communities we work in. People who hear about the distribution have approached our team, asking to be on the list for the next distribution.

Well, earlier this month we celebrated the 90th birthday of our Board President, Francis X. Tannian. Instead of gifts, family and friends donated cows in his honor. 22 recently purchased cows will be distributed on December 30th, right before the new year.

It’s shaping up a to be a bright 2024 for them and many other families as we continue this transformative work across Kajiado County, Kenya.

The post Cows and Goats: Gifts of Hope appeared first on Water is Life Kenya.

Meet Koyiaso

Koyiaso is from Oltome village in Amboseli. She is an active woman of 45 and has four children. She lost her husband four years ago and joined WILK’s Hope for Widows Pilot program in July 2022. Whenever you see Koyiaso, she is carrying on her back a big load of textiles and clothing which she sells from village to village. From the profit she earns through her business, she buys food and pays school fees for her family. Koyiaso has also saved enough money to make improvements to her home. She recently built a fence to protect her family from lions and even piped water from the nearby borehole to her house.

Koyiaso said, “Before I joined WILK’s Hope for Widows program, I was shy. I felt hopeless. Now I have ideas and can talk in front of people. I am able to make a profit and manage my business. I have enough knowledge so that my business won’t collapse when I have big expenses like school fees. I am known as a business lady, where before people would avoid me because I had nothing.”

Koyiaso has blossomed as she built her business with the grant she received from WILK. When she talks about how grateful she is for the chance to change her life, she cries. She had a hard time since losing her husband and didn’t see how her situation could improve. But now, hope is alive!

Empowering Widows through Business Skills

In the Hope for Widows program, we train women in business skills, self-empowerment, women and family health, and their rights as widows. After training, we award a cash grant of $150 to start their small businesses and three goats to start their herds. Based on our 2022-23 pilot program results, we found that a one-time donation of $800 means a woman receives $2,400 in benefits through increases in four key financial indicators: income, assets, savings, and business inventory.

1. Increase in Income – Women went from an average of $50 per month to $200 per month. This means $1,800 more per year for these women and their children.
2. Increase in Savings – Most women began with $0 in savings. Now they are saving $50 per woman in 6 months. This is growth of $100 per year.
3. Increase in Assets – After receiving goats, their livestock assets have grown from an average of 2 goats per woman (worth $120) to 6 goats per woman (worth $360).
4. Consistent Inventory – With this new financial discipline, women can maintain inventory, run their small businesses consistently, and keep their customers coming back.

Additional Benefit: Improved Household Nutrition

In addition, we have seen significant improvement in household nutrition. Before the program, women were eating two meals a day, one of which was only a cup of tea. But by July 2023, they were eating two meals a day with real food, like vegetables and ugali, rice and beans, corn and beans, or porridge with milk, along with a cup of tea for breakfast. Now they are strong, healthy, and energetic. And when we asked how their quality of life had changed, the women told us that their confidence, hopefulness, feeling of belonging, and belief in their ability to “handle things” had increased.

They Could Use Your Help

So many more women need the training and grants, especially due to the inflation of staple food
costs, a weak Kenyan currency, and drought causing poor harvests. Widow-led families feel the pressure even more than others. Providing skills and seed money will boost these women and build resilience so they can thrive in an uncertain environment.

Your gift of $150 will provide money for a widow to start her business; $460 will fund one year of training; $800 will support a widow in her first year of the Hope for Widows Program, including the grant, goats, and training.

Together, we can do even more. Any amount you give will be put towards our work of Helping Kenyans Bloom. Thanks to you, widows in Kenya can care for themselves and their families with dignity and hope.

The post Hope for Widows Spotlight: One Woman’s Journey as a Businesswoman appeared first on Water is Life Kenya.

Why Goats & Grants?

You may be asking: Why goats and grants…again?

Last November, the first round of Hope for Widows participants had their Goats & Grants ceremony. Since then, they’ve been running their businesses, saving money, and reliably providing for their families.

The goats (two females and one male) are long-term investments for the widows. These women need to build capital and livestock is still a good investment in the region. Having a built-in savings account that compounds over time—especially as they have babies!—is a key component of increasing capacity.

The grants are short-term cash infusions to help jumpstart the widows’ small business ventures. With these grants, they are able to buy what’s necessary to stock their shops, as well as any raw materials needed for production.

Giving, and Giving Back

At this ceremony, a total of 32 women, 15 from Ogulului and 17 from Amboseli, completed the Hope for Widows training over the summer. Sessions primarily covered business strategies to help the women learn how to build savings and how much to invest into what they’ll be selling. There will also be a training session in the future dedicated to women’s health issues.

Each widow received a grant of $150 (about 20,000 Kenyan shillings) and three goats (two female, one male). The money is to be invested in their businesses, so they have 10 days to make a supplies list and purchase what they need. The goats are additional collateral that give the women a source of savings.

Here’s an example of what was purchased with the grant:

Two Groups, One Heart

Now, where do the baby goats come in?

Some of the goats distributed in November did what goats do—and had babies. With grateful hearts, the widows who own these goats decided to “pay it forward.”

Each widow with multiple babies gave one baby goat to a woman in need. There were plenty of smiles, tears, and happy dancing when the handovers happened. For us, seeing this level of reciprocity is a dream come true.

At the ceremony, women distinguished themselves by the length of their participation in the Hope for Widows program. Those who completed their training last year wore blue shukas while new participants wore orange. Women from the pilot group also gave baby goats to friends who needed a boost of help. Overall, the ceremony became a celebration of the hard work all these women have done so far.

Past Success Leads to a Future With Hope

Speaking of hard work, Group 1 of the Hope for Widows participants is nearing the end of its first year. We recently traveled to Amboseli and the Kilimanjaro Highlands to check in with these groups. While surveying their experience thus far, we asked about the most impactful skills they’ve learned. Two answers were repeated: making a profit and becoming self-reliant. 

Despite the long drought that’s been plaguing Kenya, these women managed to make enough money to cover their expenses, and then some. Last year, the widows would often skip meals to make sure their kids ate. Now, they’re eating every day. They received their second grant earlier in August and, with their experience, they know how to put it to the best use possible.

The post Goats and Grants, Round 2 appeared first on Water is Life Kenya.

About the Project

A few years ago, this desire to help Kenyans evolved during a family trip to Kenya. On the trip, they visited an orphanage whose library was in disrepair. When they arrived home, Michael Jr. and Nathan started collecting books for the library. In just a few months, they collected hundreds of books, as well as funds to refurbish the library. They were so happy when they got to see the transformation at that orphanage—a result of their hard work and determination.

Charity is a key staff member at Country House and first learned about WILK back in 2022 when our board members, Dr. Tannian and Mark, visited to give an Armchair Traveler experience of Kenya. Several months ago Joyce and Charity came together with hopes of beginning a new project for Michael and Nathan to help Kenyans in need.

Joyce invited the boys to participate in phase 3 of the Esukuta Community Borehole, established by WILK in 2015. This phase would consist of installing toilets and planting trees for the community.

Toilets & Trees for Esukuta

With a clear vision and goal, this remarkable family got to work. From bake sales to knocking on doors to talking at church, Michael Jr. and Nathan inspired over $9,000 in donations, enough to fund the construction of toilets and showers, as well as the planting of 500 trees!

When they visited Kenya earlier this summer, everybody chipped in to help plant these 500 saplings in Esukuta. The community was so grateful for the family’s support that the elders offered the boys a traditional Maasai blessing. They got to sit on a 200-year-old ceremonial stool, drink from an ancient vessel, and were even gifted some nifty beaded shirts!

As far as growing trees in an arid climate—the chief and principal at Nasipa Primary School agreed that every tree would be tended by a student. They would use the borehole to water the trees daily and make sure they stay alive.

A Kenyan Family’s Story

In front of a packed room, the family shared about their trip and what they were able to accomplish thanks to dozens of generous donations. Through Charity, Michael, Michael Jr., and Nathan, a tremendous amount of support was mobilized for the Esukuta community (who has been plagued by the drought and have not received rain in over 3 years). They were all moved by the dryness and dustiness of Esukuta, as well as the dire importance of water. Those in attendance were intrigued, astonished, and impressed at the devotion of this family and the scope of WILK’s projects.

After seeing for themselves how one of our boreholes changes a community, Michael Sr. encouraged Country House residents to consider supporting Water is Life Kenya in the future. We look forward to making new friends as they enter our generous community in support of Kenyans in need!

After the presentation, one resident said, “This was the best entertainment we’ve had in a while!” We couldn’t agree more—Michael and Nathan brought the (Country) House down! We believe generous acts like this are worth sharing with others, and we’re so happy Michael and Nathan were willing to share this experience with us.

We are so grateful to this Kenyan family for supporting our communities and inspiring so much goodness. They have truly made a world of difference for Esukuta!

The post Project Update: A Kenyan Family Brings Hope Back Home appeared first on Water is Life Kenya.

Building Blocks for Success

Over the last couple years, we’ve helped Maasai widows obtain their rightful land and learn important business skills. Last week, we went to Amboseli and the Kilimanjaro Highlands to meet with women from our first groups of the Hope for Widows program. We asked them the most impactful skills they learned in the program’s pilot, and there were two answers that were repeated: making a profit and becoming self-reliant. In spite of a devastating drought that carried into this year, these women managed to make enough money to cover their expenses, send their kids to school, and create a savings box, even during rapidly increasing inflation.

This might seem like a small feat, but its significance should not be overlooked. WILK Co-founder Joseph Larasha noted that these women look very different this year; specifically, they’re healthy. The widows are eating regularly, feeding their children and sending them to school, and building their businesses. One widow said, “My life is very different now. I am able to take care of my children and eat a meal every day.” Another widow said, “What more can I need?” It’s humbling to hear these reactions, and it shows us that the Hope for Widows program is impacting their lives—for the better.

Responding to Needs

We also asked the widows what they would do with a second grant. At first, the Kilimanjaro widows said they wanted to use the grants to buy more land. This is outside the requirements we have to receive the second grants; buying land, at this stage, would not help them increase business capital. These widows seemed to have missed the point.

We traveled down to meet them, anticipating a difficult talk where we crush their homesteading dreams. When we arrived, however, they had collectively changed their minds, noting that they could use the money in better, more profitable ways. After sharing their initial plans with us, they got together and had their own brainstorming session. Without our prompting, they realized their ambitions were off track and readjusted their hopes to better support what would be best. The fact that they came to this conclusion shows just how much they learned by participating in the program.

They received their second grants from us last week, this time for $100. With their businesses already off the ground, this cash infusion should help stabilize operations and take these ladies to the next level. We can’t wait to see what they do to further improve their businesses.

Hope for Those Without It

One widow named Koyiaso has certainly made the most of her new business skills. She decided to sell Maasai fabrics, which she purchases in Arusha, Tanzania, and then sells at various markets in Kajaido County. She will walk as far as 5-6 km (about 3.5 miles) to sell shukas and other garments. As a result of her efforts, she saved enough money to buy a fence that now surrounds her property.

One day, our team was driving to visit one of our boreholes when they saw a very small woman carrying a pack on her back about the size of her. They slowed down only to see that it was Koyiaso, making her daily commute. She was so excited for our team to see her putting her training into action. This is just one example of the success our widows are achieving.

Another mark of success has been a true Maasai favorite–baby goats. At the Goats and Grants Ceremony last year, three goats and $200 USD grants were distributed to the widows. In the past few weeks, many of the goats had babies. The widows have agreed to paying their good fortune forward by giving one of their baby goats to other women in need. They’ve learned to work hard, work together, and work towards autonomy.

They also have new goals they’d like to reach. When we asked what else they’d like to get out of the Hope for Widows program, they had some suggestions. A group bank account of their own was one. Another was a chance for field trips. We’ll continue to provide training and opportunities for these widows in order to help them have successful businesses.

What’s Next for the Widows

After distributing the second round of grants, we began meeting with the second round of widows in Ogulului to start their training. This time, we’ve chosen mostly young women (the average age is 30) who are recently widowed. These widows have younger children who are still dependent on them, and many have lost their husbands within the past couple years. They also are still dealing with the drought because it didn’t rain in Ogulului. Unlike the Kilimanjaro or Amboseli widows, some of these widows have been working as day laborers, hiring themselves out to build houses in other towns. Others have been building thorn-bush fences. Still others have been making beadwork and selling it at the market.

It’s also clear these younger widows are having difficult time processing their grief. It’s our hope that having a community of women who are dealing with the same issues will benefit them as they step out of the darkness of isolation and into the light of community. Already, this group shows great promise, resolve, and determination, characteristics needed to run successful businesses in the hard, semi-arid Kajiado bush.

We’ll be carrying out essential training session in August, culmination with the next Goats and Grants Ceremony on August 26 so that they can get started with their businesses as soon as possible. We’re forward to another successful, transformative year with this new group.

The post Widows Update: Hope, Part II appeared first on Water is Life Kenya.

You Gotta Have Friends

For a long time, Nooriro residents weren’t able to live on their land. Instead, they were forced to squat a ten-hour walk away near the only available water. After assessing the situation, we decided to dig a borehole so they’d have access to water in Nooriro and, therefore, could come home again. As we’ve discussed before, there are many steps that precede drilling in order to ensure that the well will continue to run after it’s been installed. Once a hydrogeological survey team determined that enough water was available underground, we developed a plan for the borehole

Before drilling could begin, we had to raise money. That’s when our friend Paul from the Lions Club of Pike Creek, along with the Lions Club of Nairobi Greater and the Lions Club International Foundation pulled their resources to pay for digging the well. Without the Lions’ generosity, it would’ve taken much longer to save for all of the expenses needed to drill the borehole.

Paul was on hand in February for the early drilling in Nooriro, but it wasn’t until we’d drilled almost 240 meters that we tapped into the aquifer. After we tested the water, we began building the infrastructure that would allow the people in Nooriro to utilize it. None of this would have been possible without our partnership with the Lions and their commitment to serving others.

Opening Day in Nooriro

A couple weeks ago, the last of the construction was finished. The pump house, water tank, and latrines were installed, the water pump and generator were added, and everything was hooked up to the energy grid. Finally we could celebrate the arrival of fresh, clean water to the people in Nooriro.

During the ceremony, everyone sang and danced with joy. The Lions then distributed enough food for 300 Nooriro families—approximately 2,100 people—to last for a month. They, too, were given gifts to thank them for their generosity. More importantly, the lives of this community were changed for the better.

Love In Action

The Nooriro borehole has given hope to people who, until recently, had none. With the opening of the new well, people have begun moving back home. Many are talking about how their lives will change for good. They have plans to build a school, and maybe even a health clinic.

We’ve spent sixteen years setting almost thirty groups of people up for success. The people in Nooriro have benefitted from the support of many people, but so many more Maasai face similar difficulties. We hope this same generosity will be given to future projects that we have planned.

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