15th November, 2011
The power of change
As AMREF works with Kenyan communities in the wake of one of the worst droughts the country has seen in the past century, success stories from part drought response interventions serve as a poignant reminder of the great possibility to bring lasting change where presently even hope is hard to find.
In 2005 semi-nomadic Massai community of Kajiado who occupy Kenya’s Great Rift Valley lost 80 per cent of its livestock when severe drought hit the region.
Livestock such as cattle, goats and sheep are the primary source of income for the Maasai and as climate change takes its toll on the area, perennial drought has made a regular water supply a scare commodity.
A year after the famine, the dampened locals dusted themselves off, and started replenishing their stock. But as fate would have it, barely halfway into the recovery process, another dry spell hit the district in 2007 and they lost many of their restocked cattle.
Time for change
“We needed to diversify from just cattle rearing otherwise we would continue to suffer the same fate,” says the chairman of Kasaru borehole at Ilpolosat village, Kajiado, George Olemusunku, 45.
“We regrouped as residents and identified water as one of our biggest problems. We had to fetch water more than 5km away from a dam. Since we did not have the expertise or funds, we decided to approach AMREF for help,” says Olemusunku, a father of seven.
In 2007, the AMREF team surveyed the area. “By then it was unbelievably dry. There was no water available,” says Phillip Ntaato Murkuku, the AMREF project assistant in charge of community mobilization and training in Kajiado.
“When there is no water, diseases are at their highest, because hygiene and sanitation are at their lowest. Malnutrition peaks as women spend a lot of time looking for water and food."
"More children drop out of school in search of food and water,” notes Daniel Kurao, project manager for the AMREF Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) project in Kajiado.
New borehole brings change
Through funding from Celtel (now Airtel) a mobile phone company, a partnership with the community and the government, plans were finalised to come to the community’s rescue.
One of the biggest concerns when implementing community projects is making sure that the community owns and continues to benefit from an investment long after the development organisation has left the project area. When AMREF docked in Kajiado district in 1999, they realised that while more than 400 boreholes had been done in the area, over 90 per cent were not operational owing to mismanagement.
“Our focus was to rehabilitate the existing boreholes and the first phase ended in 2006. We have covered Isinya, Mashuru and Loitoktok and the process is still ongoing.” explains Mr Kurao.
“We train community committees on how to take care of their water resource. You need to make sure that they are able to maintain it, by taking care of fuel expenses, maintenance and any breakdowns,” says Phillip.
In August 2007, after lessons on hygiene and sanitation, borehole management and environmental protection, the village cheered at a new water source.
A new beginning
“We piped the water from the borehole to the homesteads and encouraged people to use the water.” says the chairman. The borehole serves more than 50 households, up to 500 locals and 4,000 animals and quite a number of wild animals.
Some members took the cue, and diversified into commercial dairy and pig farming, others like Olemusunku, went into tree planting, poultry, vegetables, beekeeping among others.
“In our community there is a saying that seeing is believing. I remember one old man, laughing at my idea of buying trees and planting them in my farm. He thought it was foolish to invest in trees and not animals. Now that the trees have grown, he has followed suit.
Among the achievements he is most proud of is the fact that he is able to provide for his children’s higher education needs. “Education is the future of the community. I have a 20 year old studying law at JKUAT University and another who has completed a diploma in ICT,” he says.
This initiative is an example of the amazing results that AMREF can achieve through implementing sustainable change.
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