Stephanie Ng's Visit- May 2012
Even when we were still a few meters away from the well, Lucas could tell that there was something wrong with the well. He pointed out to me that the girls should not have to use that much force to pump the water out. Normally after two small pumps, water should be coming out easily and abundantly. At a closer look I realized that the children had to jump up and down in order to get the handle to go all the way down and very little water was coming up with each pump. When we got to the well we realized that the piece connecting the hand pump to the well was missing; in its place, the community had placed a few sticks to hold the part together. Lerooto, the chair of the well committee, said this problem started about a month ago. Lucas has never seen this type of breakage to any of the wells before and therefore does not have the spare part on hand; when he takes me back to Nairobi at the end of my trip he will buy the spare. In order to pay for the part, the community already has a fund for repairs. This particular well committee is well structured and they have a treasurer that is in charge of maintaining the fund. Once they find out how much this particular spare part costs they will have each household contribute more money to make up the difference.
One thing that Lucas pointed about this well was that the slab foundation is particularly low. It has not been an issue for this community but for the future wells, the slabs should be higher.
In terms of the well's impact on the people, having clean, safe drinking water nearby has radically changed the lives of everyone in the community. Before the well, women would have to walk six hours a day and travel behind a mountain where there was a small river. This river and other hand dug wells nearby were contaminated by wild animals. As a result, many people would get diarrhea and other water-born diseases from drinking this water. Now that they have the well, it only takes a matter of minutes for women to get safe, clean drinking water. Waterborne diseases have greatly decreased. Women can now tend to other duties and do their jobs easily: cooking, looking after livestock, getting firewood, washing their clothes. The water from the well is primarily used for drinking and cooking and also for washing. Now that they have water, many households have small gardens near their homes.
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