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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To keep you in the know, we’ve compiled highlights from our WILK Wednesdays for you here. We hope you enjoy this brief review of how you and our generous community of donors have been helping Kenyans bloom this year.

Working With Our Partners

In January, we hosted Engineers Without Borders – Delaware Professional Chapter, an amazing group of engineers who volunteer their vacation time to complete service projects in Kenya. This time, they worked at Imurtot Primary School in Loitokitok to repair the rainwater catchment system they installed in 2020. They also scouted for areas where they can provide water collection assistance in the future. We look forward to EWB’s next project!

We also partnered with the Lions Club, which has connected us to many selfless people. On February 9, we visited the United Nations campus in Nairobi for the annual Lions Day at the UN event. Speakers including Deputy President of Kenya Rigathi Gachagua discussed the importance of tackling the global climate crisis. The persistence of lengthy droughts, including the 2.5-year-long drought that communities in Kajiado County dealt with, has negatively affected the Kenyan economy. The Lions stand in solidarity with local NGOs, as climate change has brought problems to much of East Africa and around the world.

In happier news, our friend Paul of the Pike Creek Green Hills Lions Club made a donation for the Nooriro Community Borehole, drilled just after Lions Day. In fact, Paul was with us when, at 150 meters, we hit water! The mission for each Lions Club is to serve others, and our friends from Pike Creek went above and beyond that calling to help the people in Nooriro get that much closer to having clean water available to them.

Borehole Projects in Progress

Not only did we begin a new borehole project in Nooriro, we also celebrated the Opening Ceremony for the Empalakai borehole in Rombo, Kajiado. Sakimba Parashina, a member of the Kenyan Parliament, was there for the ceremony. Also present was the choir from St. Francis Church in Karen, Nairobi—where Joyce sings. They celebrated with great gusto, singing hymns and bringing food to the women of Empalakai. The event also was featured on CitizenTV, the local Kenyan news station. With clean water now available, residents can come back to Empalakai and take advantage of their new local water source. A video of this event is available on Water is Life Kenya’s YouTube page.

We also installed a water pump for the borehole at Ilkisonko Boys High School which was drilled last year. This pump was purchased through the generosity of our Giving Tuesday donors, who helped us raise $15,000 in a single day. Many Maasai men have attended and graduated from Ilkisonko, and the school’s reputation has improved due to its strong, dedicated teachers. Now the borehole is not only benefiting the Ilkisonko students at staff, but also providing clean water to the surrounding community.

This month, construction at Nooriro has begun. Our contractor has been hard at work to lay the foundation for the water tank, pump house, pipelines, and latrines. Local people are benefitting from the work, too, as they’re hired and paid fairly as day laborers. The community is delighted to be building this well together!

Hope for Widows

It’s been a year since we implemented our Hope for Widows Pilot Program. Based on the results we’ve complied, we’ve learned so much about what we can do to help women who otherwise would have to beg for food and money to support their children.

After 7 training sessions, in November these widows were each were given $200 and three goats at the Goats and Grants Ceremony. Then they started their businesses in December, and we’ve been monitoring their progress to determine how we can make the program more effective in the future. Even during the worst part of the drought, 50-60% of the women used their new skills to both save money for food and school fees as well as invest more into their business. What a victory!

Recent Events

We’ve been all over the tristate area to spread the word about WILK! In March, we participated in the Faith Filled Women Conference in Salisbury, MD, bringing news—and beads!—to women from different churches in the area. We also took part in Dansko Ladies Night in West Grove, PA. It was fun to spend time with our friends at Dansko again and connect with the other community vendors that were there.

In April, we partnered with CoroAllegro for three nights of music and culture in their Around the World in 80 Minutes concerts. Our very own Joyce Tannian collaborated with the group and brought some Kenyan music to Newark and Wilmington. We also overcame the rain while under tents at University of Delaware’s AG Day event. Students, parents, professors, and Newark community members stopped by to learn more about how they can support our Maasai friends in Kenya, and hundreds of people walked away with beautiful Beaded Handicrafts. What’s better than spreading joy and hope on a rainy day? 

We also hosted our 7^th Thirst Reverse event in Newark, DE, as well as our 1^st in Ardmore, PA. Both events were at Iron Hill Brewery and Restaurant locations. Thanks to their generosity—and the generosity of all our esteemed, Kenyan-Quench-drinking guests—we were able to raise funds to reboot our Livestock as a Business (LAB) program. Many people were excited to donate cows and goats to our Kenyan friends! We hope to take this event on the road again, branching out to new areas to reach even more people who would like to eat, grab a beer, and learn about our life-changing work.

Past and Present Special Campaigns

Last but not least, we’ve promoted several campaigns to help our Maasai friends deal with the drought that’s only recently let up. In September, October, and November, we brought food staples to both schools and families throughout Kajiado County. Then again in February, with the drought still in effect, we delivered more food to schools whose students were starving. In all, you, our donors, contributed $45,000 in food relief during the worst part of the drought.

During our time in Kenya, we saw just how many people, and especially women, suffered because of the drought. It impacted their ability to purchase food, pay school fees, and, in general, care for their families. So many children came to us for help because they just wanted to go back to school. We started our sponsorship program, Special Faces, Special Cases, to help support those who needed money for their school fees. We hope to sponsor as many children as we can so that they’ll get the education they want so much.

That brings us to the present! We hope you’ve enjoyed our summary of events and operations from the year so far. Please consider signing up for our bi-monthly WILK Wednesday newsletter at our new website so you can follow along in real time. And, as always, thank you for your continued support over the last fifteen years. None of this work would be possible without dedicated supporters like you.

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However, these are not ideal times: there hasn’t been a rainy season in over two years. Many Maasai from Nooriro now live far away from home—the women up to twelve hours away, forced to sweat on other people’s land; the men hundreds of kilometers away in the direction of Chyulu Hills, where a little grass remains. Most people have lost all their cows due to the drought. Many bright children can’t go to school because their parents can’t afford the fees. There’s no food growing.

We found out about Nooriro’s water shortage when our co-founder, Maasai elder Joseph Larasha, was with his herd in search of pasture near Nooriro last year. He met community members who shared how the drought has been hurting them. We decided we needed to help. Nooriro is now WILK’s most western program—the first in Kajiado Central (all the others have been in Kajiado South), so we’re in the process of breaking ground, literally and figuratively, in new territories with new groups.

The Digging Days

In partnership with Paul, a longtime donor and friend, the Pike Creek Lions Club, the Lions Club of Greater Nairobi, and the Lions Club International Foundation, we planned a borehole project that we hoped would bring the Maasai back to Nooriro.

Our hydrogeological survey team estimated that we would hit substantial water at 220 meters, so when we started digging we had high hopes. The entire community gathered to sing, dance, and pray for water. Dirt then dust flew out. After several hours, and about 140 meters of drilling, there was no sign of water.

Not until nightfall did the wet sand show itself. It was a huge moment of celebration and relief, and our friend Paul, who was in Nairobi for the Lions Worldwide Week of Service in Sight and Lions Day with the United Nations, was there to see it. However, we couldn’t drill anymore until daybreak.

The next day, the waiting continued. When the drill reached 220 meters, we tried cleaning the borehole. Still no water. Our team contacted the geologist and had a long conversation about whether we should continue. Based on the rock samples we showed him, he suggested we had reached the top of the water table and only about 30 meters more would produce water.

On the third day, at about 238 meters, we finally tapped into the aquifer—and water gushed out. We had to keep drilling, though, because a borehole needs adequate pressure to bring the water to the surface with regularity. We finally stopped at 260 meters, which means the Nooriro borehole is the second-deepest we’ve drilled.

What Comes Next

We still have tests to run. We first have to be sure that the Nooriro borehole will produce drinkable water. Once that happens, we’ll build a concrete tank and, hopefully, pipe the water into the village.

More importantly, we have hope for the Nooriro Maasai. With this borehole, their lives will change—for the better. Women won’t have to walk ten hours a day for water or leave the village because there’s no water to collect. Families can move back to their homeland. A village elder plans to donate his land to the community so that a school and a church can be built. In spite of the seemingly endless drought, people will have a chance to live on their ancestral homeland—the land they legally own a title to.

Finally, Hope

We at Water is Life Kenya have made it our mission to help as many Maasai in Kajiado County as we can. It’s a relatively small section of Kenya, but it has important history for the Maasai that deserves to remain intact. We can’t control the weather—life would be easier for everyone if we could make it rain!—but we can give the Maasai the best chance to live their lives fully. Thank you for helping us serve the Maasai in so many ways.

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