Four members of the WTM team have just returned from a project visit to Kenya, accompanied by Just a Drop’s Nicola Baskerville and Colonel Mike Reynolds. The teams were visiting two of Just a Drop’s clean water projects at schools which had been provided with rainwater harvesting tanks thanks to funding from WTM.
The schools – one primary and one secondary – are located in a semi-arid area, near Kenya’s capital, Nairobi. At present, children must provide their own water for drinking, cooking and cleaning and during the dry season, this means a 6km walk to the nearest river. Furthermore, and with even more serious consequences, the river water they collect is contaminated, causing illnesses such as diarrhoea, dysentery and skin infections.
The new water sources will improve the overall sanitary condition of the schools and provide clean, safe drinking water to approximately 424 children and 11 teachers. Other benefits will include a reduction in the incidence of water related diseases; less time spent collecting water; increased attendance and better concentration levels in class, as well as an end to the physical burden the children have had to endure when carrying their jerry cans full of water over long distances.
Here is Nicola Baskerville‘s account of the trip:
Visiting Kenya for the first time with Just a Drop has been an overwhelming and touching experience. From having little children running up to me giggling and wanting to play, to teenage girls amazed by my red hair and a couple of young boys who all wanted to become photographers after I showed them how to use my camera.
It was evident from the moment we all pulled into the schools that thanks to funding from WTM and the support of the Africa Sand Dam Foundation (ASDF) – Just a Drop’s local partner – Just a Drop has had a dramatic impact on the lives of the children and wider community.
The rainwater harvesting system – chosen as the best engineering solution for both the primary and secondary school – was constructed by the parents with guidance given by the head teachers and ASDF. This meant that not only will the new water source enable the children to focus on their education and the parents on growing crops and making a living, but they will also feel ownership of it; it is theirs to benefit from and theirs to maintain.
This trip has not only made me realise that such simple solutions can have profound effects on people’s lives, but it has reinforced the reason why I wanted to work for Just a Drop in the first place.
16 year old Veronica (pictured below, second from the left) summed up her feelings well in a short poem:
(i) I had no future, no life, no hope
I can now smile, I am at the top
Because I have what I so longed for
Just a Drop!
(ii) I can now wash and grow a crop
A friend can scrub and still mop
What I pay for is just a mere soap
Because I have what I so longed for
Just a Drop!
(iii) My love for you will never stop
May you live long like Paul the Pope
Drop has made me walk up the slope
For now I have what I so longed for
Just a Drop!
