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.

“Magis” at Work

On March 22, Water is Life Kenya (WILK) celebrated World Water Day by participating in a water walk hosted by St. Joseph’s University and its Beautiful Social Research Collaborative (B:Social). The walk, called “Magis for Maji,” combines the SJU motto of “magis” (live greater) with the Swahili word “maji” (water).

Students who participated in the walk paid a $15 admission fee and, in return, received a handmade Kenyan bracelet featuring SJU colors. The walk raised over $1,000.00, and all of the money will be used for WILK’s projects in Kenya.

Dr. Cheryl McConnell, SJU’s president, also walked with us. She talked about how such an event supported the university’s mission:

The St. Joe’s community understands that it’s more than words, that actions matter. And this is an example of a student organization and a program and a major putting words into action. And I want to support that.

https://www.sjuhawknews.com/sju-magis-for-maji-walk/

B:Social, B:Giving

B:Social teams up with nonprofit organizations and makes a semester-long project plan for groups of students to work on. Since last year, WILK has worked with the B:Social group. This semester, B:Social organized “Magis for Maji” and sold bracelets in advance to help raise money for the event.

B:Social is part of the Communication and Media Studies department at SJU. Dr. Aimée Knight, who started B:Social 14 years ago, leads the students in this group. Kiera Donohue, SJU student and B:Social participant, helped plan the walk in which more than three dozen students participated:

We’re trying to raise awareness through the Saint Joe’s community… and then send the proceeds back to Kenya to benefit that community.

https://www.beautifulsocial.org/blog/4acw2af0yc1sme3h8bqqj7goaqex63

Together, We Can Do “Magis”

We had a great experience working with SJU and the B:Social students, and we look forward to continuing this partnership. These valuable connections, through SJU and other local schools, help us show others how much our Maasai friends need our help.

You, too, can be a WILK partner! If you’d like to volunteer, start a partnership, or schedule a talk, you can contact us for more information. We love sharing our message and our work with others!

The post Magis for Maji: SJU Students Supporting Kenyans appeared first on Water is Life Kenya.

Empalakai Community Borehole (2022)

Women in Empalakai used to have a treacherous path to take in order to find water. Not only did the walk take several hours, but the area where water collected was in a rocky riverbed. The water was heavy and dirty, and people often got sick from drinking it.

In April 2022, we dug 220 meters to tap into the water reserve. Once the well was constructed, water basins and cattle troughs were built. An appropriate pump and generator also had to be installed. By September, the water system was online and ready to be used. About 6,000 liters of water per minute can be pumped from the well, and women no longer have to risk their lives to find it.

Esukuta Community Borehole (2015)

Like the women in Empalakai, women in Esukuta also had difficulty finding potable water. Esukuta means “salt,” and the water women managed to collect by hand-scooping in shallow wells was barely fit for human consumption. Even livestock got parasites from drinking the water.

Our Esukuta borehole is one of the earliest we constructed. In July 2015, we broke ground and tested the water. It took about a year to complete the project, but the results speak for themselves. Pipes were connected to nearby Nasipa Primary School so it could also have access to clean water. Shops opened up around the borehole, and women could earn money from the time they saved not having to search for water. Livestock is healthier and children perform better in school.

And last summer, trees were planted and toilets installed during phase 3 of the Esukuta Borehole Project. Which means that, after nearly a decade, the borehole still is providing water to this community.

Ilkisonko Boys’ High School (2022)

In 2022, the Ilkisonko Boys School in Loitokitok had over 1,200 students, 800 of whom lived on campus. But the pipe system wasn’t working and water had to be purchased and delivered to the school. Water, then, was rationed to students, who could bathe only once a week. Even people living in areas surrounding the school couldn’t access clean water.

To solve the problem, we drilled 300 meters (Ilkisonko Boys School is at the top of a hill in the highlands) and constructed a borehole for the school. Not only did the students benefit from this project, but the surrounding communities did as well. Because the borehole had a strong flow, it could sell water to nearby areas. Now, thousands of people benefit from the results of this successful water project.

Lositeti Community Borehole (2024)

Our newest active water project is one that was desperately needed. The people in Lositeti suffered great losses from the three-year-long drought that Kenyans endured. Women walked for hours and “scooped” for water, sometimes returning home without any. Cattle herds were wiped out by disease and starvation. People are still so poor and isolated that, even with rain falling, they can’t bounce back.

The support we received for this project astounded us. Donations came from Rotary District 7360, the Raskob Foundation, the Virginia Wellington Cabot Foundation, our board member Linda, and so many other people. It was clear that the cries from people in Loisteti had been heard.

We began drilling a borehole for this community last month. During test pumping, people lined up to fill their jerry cans. We also distributed beans and nutrient-rich flour to offer additional relief to those who still desperately need it. We still have to build the borehole and its supporting infrastructure, but there’s finally hope for people in Lositeti where before there was none.

How Will You Celebrate World Water Day?

This year’s theme for World Water Day is “Leveraging Water for Peace.” Peace can mean a lot of things, but for the people we serve it usually means peace of mind. Women are empowered by not having to spend most of the day, every day, searching for water. Children can go to school and actually retain what they learn. Livestock stay healthy, which benefits both families and communities. All around, lives are changed—for the better.

The post World Water Day: Celebrating WILK’s Success Stories 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.

We’d like to introduce you to Global Linkages as well as tell you more about our goals for this project.

Linking People to Africa

Founded in 1997 and based in the NJ-NYC metropolitan area, Global Linkages, Inc. is a management consulting firm that specializes in developing partnerships between the United States and the African continent with a particular focus on the African Diaspora.

As part of its services, Global Linkages provides a “boutique travel experience” that connects individuals, educational institutions, governments, businesses, and community development organizations with unique and exciting explorations in Africa. The goal is to provide an immersive experience that goes beyond traditional tourism by building deep relationships with the communities that they visit. Groups have traveled to Ghana, South Africa, Morocco, Senegal, and, in 2022, Kenya and Tanzania.

Lorna Johnson, owner of Global Linkages, has coordinated both state trade missions as well as community development tours to various African countries. She gives travelers a lasting experience by performing service projects while they’re abroad. Her focus is on organizations whose work includes international and global interests.

“We Want to Help”

In 2022, Global Linkages organized two tours to Kenya. During an East African Tour, a partnership was established with members of Olmoti, a Maasai community near Amboseli National Park in Kenya.

This community has many needs, and after seeing their situation travelers decided to help them. The initial request was to provide school supplies and sneakers for children, and over 160 pairs of shoes were shared. However, it soon became clear that more help was needed. As travelers rode through the towns and countryside, they saw dry, red dust everywhere but very little green vegetation.

Maasai tour guides described how the lack of water was killing their cattle and, with them, entire livelihoods. One family’s herd which was 60 heads of cattle—assets that essentially act as bank accounts—was reduced to 3 during the drought. Men traveled hundreds of miles away to find pasture, which stressed families tremendously.

After her two trips to Kenya, she realized Global Linkages could do more work to help the people they visited. After learning about the work we do at WILK, Lorna reached out to us to work together and bring a stable water source to Olmoti. Together, we decided a borehole project would be the most beneficial resource for this community.

Olmoti, Global Linkages, and WILK

Over the years, WILK has discovered that partnering with a strong community will make our projects more successful. Olmoti is an active community with good leadership that’s committed to serving its members. However, it’s located in the pathway of the Great Migration, which means dangerous wildlife inhibits water collection outside of the area. A borehole within the community would help people have direct access to clean water while preventing women and their daughters from encountering lions and other potential threats.

Wells in this region are incredibly deep and, therefore, elephant-proofed. Because of this extra precaution, the cost of this project is $100,000 USD. An investment in this community will secure not only their survival but also their self-reliance. By involving the Olmoti community—especially the women—at every step of this process, we’re ensuring this valuable water resource will be used, maintained, and respected for generations to come.

Both Global Linkages and WILK believe in partnering with local communities to help them become self-sufficient. We’re so happy to be working with Global Linkages while also helping the Olmoti community. To learn more and support this project, you can donate directly to the Global Linkages Water Project Campaign.

The post Partnership Announcement: Global Linkages 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.

As we write this, we’re preparing to start drilling at our next borehole site—Lositeti. Our fundraising campaign for this project took place last summer. Drilling a borehole that will help a community long-term is not a simple process, though. As we look forward to Lositeti, let’s look back on past Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene (WASH) projects to talk about the methods, timeframe, and costs of building durable boreholes.

It Takes (More Than) a Village

Many people in and around Kajiado County, Kenya, know about the work we at Water is Life Kenya (WILK) have done over the last seventeen years. That’s what prompted Michael Lankoi, a teacher from Lositeti, to travel 40 miles to Nooriro where we were drilling a borehole this past summer. The people in Lositeti had been suffering because of the three-year-long drought, and he asked us to help them.

We receive many requests for help. Therefore, after building a relationship with a community, we travel to the ground to conduct a needs assessment. This helps us determine what kind of help, if any, is needed. Is water available nearby? Are people committed to running and maintaining a borehole? Will the community benefit from a borehole project? These are just some of the questions we answer before getting our team-—and our donors—more involved.

Lositeti checked all of those boxes. Shallow wells had dried up, a nearby dam was empty, and livestock had been wiped out. The community welcomed us and was eager to envision what their new life would look like. Following the needs assessment, we completed a hydrogeological survey, mobilized community leadership and organizations, and guided them as they filed for drilling permits. It was only then that we asked our donors to help fund the project.

Between a grant from The Raskob Foundation, contributions from ten Rotary clubs across District 7630, and individual donations, we raised over $80,000 to fund this community borehole for Lositeti. That might seem like a lot of money—and it is—but we don’t just dig a hole and leave. This is why our projects have been so successful for so long.

Our Borehole Process

Our work in Nooriro is just one of the 27 clean water projects we’ve completed in Kajiado County. From the initial assessment to the opening ceremony, it takes about a year to complete a project. It’s time to answer how much our water wells cost in Kenya.

The needs assessment, community mobilization, and hydrogeological survey steps we mentioned, along with training a Water Management Committee (WMC) that will oversee the project on a daily basis, can cost around $5,000-$15,000. In Kenya, water resources are owned by the state, so applications and permits are required before drilling can even begin. Drilling the borehole and a 24-hour test pumping come next and cost around $15,000-$25,000, but this is not even the most expensive step.

Following drilling and test pumping comes the most critical step in our region—construction. Because of nearby elephants who love fresh, clean borehole water (see our blog post about elephants to learn more), borehole infrastructure must be made out of reinforced concrete. Local contractors are hired to build a pump house, water point, troughs for animals, water storage, and latrines. The community pays for some of this construction as a “buy-in,” while the rest (between $20,000-$30,000) is funded by WILK. Following construction, a water pump and generator are purchased and installed. Because our wells are deep (up to 300 meters), the pump and generator installation can cost between $15,000-$20,000.

Once these projects are established, our team monitors them quarterly during the first year and conducts questionnaires and other data collection. We are on standby to help resolve conflicts and troubleshoot solutions with WMCs.

Past Borehole Success Stories

The Ilkisonko borehole can show how much work goes into our projects. After drilling, we conducted test pumping, constructed necessary infrastructure, equipped a generator and pump, and trained a well management team. Therefore, our comprehensive projects have a larger cost than other smaller ones that are dug in Kenya. (The global success rate of water wells is 30-50% after two to five years. Our projects are far more sustainable, with a success rate of about 85% and some wells running for over 15 years).

One of our early projects (2012) in Olepolos is still running—and supporting two schools in addition to the community. Because the community was involved throughout the process, the borehole fits its needs. Now people have been moving to Olepolos for its water security. There are also farms, shops, and a restaurant, all of which support the economy. This means the people in Olepolos can manage the borehole as well as afford to keep it running.

We Have More Work to Do

Our first borehole in 2024 will be in Lositeti, but we’re reading through applications and surveying areas for additional borehole projects. There are so many people in Kajiado County who still suffer from the aftereffects of the three-year drought. We want to help as many as we can, but we also will continue to follow the plan we’ve been using successfully for the last seventeen years.

With all of our projects, we do our best to ensure borehole longevity. Not only does that mean boreholes are made to withstand the elements (and the elephants), but they also need to stay funded to keep running. If we want these communities to prosper, we have to help them beyond building a well.

So, how much do water wells cost in Kenya? Our community borehole wells cost about $80,000 – $100,000. And what about the benefit? The reality is that communities of up to 5,000 people (and their animals) have water for decades because of our projects. Considering some cars cost $80,000, you tell us: How much does clean water for communities cost?

The post How Much Does a Borehole Cost in Kenya? 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.

Training Highlight 1: Leadership & Ground Dynamics

The new LAB groups this year are from Kitirua, Esiteti, and Kelunyet. We train groups rather than individuals because by working together as a team they are more likely to be successful. Some of our first training sessions this summer taught participants about group dynamics and leadership roles. As you may remember from your time in school, perhaps the best way to learn–and remember–key lessons is through interactive demonstrations.

One example of a training activity is moving a full glass of water on a blanket as a group. Each person holds a corner of the blanket with the glass in the middle, then they have to move. The goal is to keep the glass upright, symbolically showing how members of the group need to work together—or else the water falls over.

We also teach using examples that Maasai are familiar with. This way, they can more easily connect the lessons with their businesses. In one training session, we use animal metaphors to identify group member personalities to decide what job each person should have, and which personalities to be cautious about. For example, someone who has the traits of a giraffe—with a vision for the future—would be a good leader. On the other hand, someone with the traits of a snake—quietly scheming for his or her own gain—needs to be watched closely.

Training Highlight 2: Livestock Disease Practical

Another key element of our LAB trainings is to identify previous business problems so that they can be corrected. Some participants have kept livestock before, while others are looking forward to owning their first animals. Either way, Maasai herders tend to manage livestock like their neighbors, even if those neighbors are practicing bad business techniques.

Our program teaches groups best-practice livestock management, disease prevention, control, and drought resilience. We instruct these farmers on livestock market surveys, timely buying and selling, budgeting and record-keeping, and grass conservation and management, all of which help increase profit margins. The goal of LAB is to help people have healthier herds, and more stable incomes, for the long run.

Recently, our new groups came together for the first time to participate in their Livestock Disease Practical. Participants learned valuable lessons as local veterinarians demonstrated how to care for, treat, and prevent illness in their livestock. Some members have used medicine before, but scarcely and often in ways not based in evidence.

This hands-on practical not only gave LAB members experience in administering medicine, but also empowered them with confidence to treat their animals from life-threatening diseases. By learning about common threats to their herds, farmers can be better prepared to identify warning signs of disease, prevent livestock casualties, and keep their animals vital. In turn, teaching LAB groups these skills offers the chance for better profit margins when it’s time to sell in the market.

Training Highlight 3: New Business Seminar

No matter where you are in the world, starting a small business is challenging. So, to cap off these critical training, we also hosted a three-day New Business Seminar in Oloitokitok. For many participants, this was their first traveling this far from home–and sleeping in a hotel!

Alongside local business experts, our team instructed LAB groups in keeping records, managing their herds, the best times to buy and sell, and navigating market days. Two of our LAB groups are women’s groups, and most of these women never attended the livestock market before. By practicing with a mock market, they got to practice bartering, speaking up for themselves, and having confident postures. All the lessons they learned these days will be practiced as they move forward with their groups.

After these training sessions, some people are already putting their lessons into practice. One woman named Nkameroi convinced her husband to sell two bulls in order to buy another breed. Likewise, Nailepu told her husband that her business was failing because of its location, so he’s building her a small shop. This direct application of their new skills shows how eager they are to learn as much as possible about making the most out of what they have.

Looking Ahead: Market Day for Old and New Groups

For LAB participants, these core trainings inform their decisions in the coming years. The LAB program lasts 4 years, with the bulk of new trainings occurring in year one. After that, it’s about practicing, learning from mistakes, and working as a group to turn a strong profit.

Currently, there are six LAB groups in years 2-4 of the program. There was a seventh group, but their area was hit especially hard by the drought, so they decided to opt out of the program this next year.

After trainings, the critical portion of the LAB program are the livestock loans we give to groups. With cash in hand, we send these groups into the livestock market to buy animals when the time is right. The ideal market day–right before the seasonal rains–is approaching soon. With their new knowledge, the groups make reliable profits after this initial purchase. The money made by each group is also saved or reinvested so that groups eventually will no longer need the loans. This, in turn, promotes further community development because overall more money is in circulation.

We’re excited to watch as old and new LAB groups come together on market day and put their loans to good use. Soon, they will join the over 650 LAB graduates who’ve already changed their farming practices with this model. We can’t wait to see what they can accomplish, both together and on their own.

The post Livestock as a Business: Fall 2023 Update 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.

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