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.

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.