Funded by the Walk4Water PGH, The Samburu Project will drill and install a shallow well equipped with a handpump in this community.

Narrative

The children currently depend upon an unreliable water source, Sere Olipi Stream, located 1km from the school. Many children experience health issues due to waterborne diseases and lack of access to clean, safe drinking water.

Once the well is complete, the children can focus on their studies and stay in school as they will no longer be searching for water or getting sick from contaminated water.

The water will be used for drinking, washing clothes, cooking, bathing and farming.

  • Kristen Kosinski of The Samburu Project
    • confidential
    Implementation Status: completed Wed 29 May 2013, Almost 11 Years ago

    Kristen's 2013 Visit

    Having the chance to visit Sere Olipi Primary School and the well we drilled there was wonderful. There are 460 primary school students at the school, 225 of whom are boarders and an additional 700 preschoolers. The campus is lovely with children everywhere. Thanks to SENET, a local organization, the school has had many improvements in recent years. The biggest improvement of all, however, is the well The Samburu Project drilled in 2011.

    Prior to The Samburu Project drilling a well at Sere Olipi Primary School students, faculty and administrators walked 5 kms to a nearby dam. The dam was heavily contaminated and salty. In 2009, there was a cholera outbreak due to the dam water. Additionally diarrhea was pervasive with the school children when they were taking water from the dam.

    The student population has grown by about 100 since the well was drilled. The students daily lives have improved significantly because they do not have to collect water daily from the dam. They simply walk to the nearby well for water. All students at the school participate in the collection of water. They rotate by class between collecting water and collecting firewood. The school has an agreement with the neighboring community. Between 3:10 pm when school is over for the day and 6 pm, people outside the school do not fetch water from the well so that the students can have easy access to the well.

    When interviewing Obed Mwende who was in charge in the absence of the Head Teacher, he told Lucas and me that the well is pumping from 5 am - 10 pm every day!

    At the well, I met Winnie who has been a teacher at the school for 5 years. She said the biggest issue at the school when she started was water. As a teacher, she too had to walk 5 kms to and from the dam and partake in the dirty water. Now that they have "mineral" water, Winnie's work has become much easier. She now has time to actually do her wash and her student love to assist her. They get to bond over this activity and she works hard to support the girls which encourages them to stay in school.

    The well water is used for cooking, drinking and personal hygiene. The personal hygiene factor keeps girls in school.

    The school next goal is to identify funding to pump the water up to the school. They have appealed to SENET and the local Catholic Mission. Currently the well is about 1 km from the school. They children now fill jerrycans, walk up the hill to the school with the water on their backs and dump the water into a tank within the school's gates.

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  • Kristen Kosinski of The Samburu Project
    • confidential
    Implementation Status: completed Wed 29 May 2013, Almost 11 Years ago

    Kristen's 2013 Visit

    Having the chance to visit Sere Olipi Primary School and the well we drilled there was wonderful. There are 460 primary school students at the school, 225 of whom are boarders and an additional 700 preschoolers. The campus is lovely with children everywhere. Thanks to SENET, a local organization, the school has had many improvements in recent years. The biggest improvement of all, however, is the well The Samburu Project drilled in 2011.

    Prior to The Samburu Project drilling a well at Sere Olipi Primary School students, faculty and administrators walked 5 kms to a nearby dam. The dam was heavily contaminated and salty. In 2009, there was a cholera outbreak due to the dam water. Additionally diarrhea was pervasive with the school children when they were taking water from the dam.

    The student population has grown by about 100 since the well was drilled. The students daily lives have improved significantly because they do not have to collect water daily from the dam. They simply walk to the nearby well for water. All students at the school participate in the collection of water. They rotate by class between collecting water and collecting firewood. The school has an agreement with the neighboring community. Between 3:10 pm when school is over for the day and 6 pm, people outside the school do not fetch water from the well so that the students can have easy access to the well.

    When interviewing Obed Mwende who was in charge in the absence of the Head Teacher, he told Lucas and me that the well is pumping from 5 am - 10 pm every day!

    At the well, I met Winnie who has been a teacher at the school for 5 years. She said the biggest issue at the school when she started was water. As a teacher, she too had to walk 5 kms to and from the dam and partake in the dirty water. Now that they have "mineral" water, Winnie's work has become much easier. She now has time to actually do her wash and her student love to assist her. They get to bond over this activity and she works hard to support the girls which encourages them to stay in school.

    The well water is used for cooking, drinking and personal hygiene. The personal hygiene factor keeps girls in school.

    The school next goal is to identify funding to pump the water up to the school. They have appealed to SENET and the local Catholic Mission. Currently the well is about 1 km from the school. They children now fill jerrycans, walk up the hill to the school with the water on their backs and dump the water into a tank within the school's gates.

  • Stephanie Ng of The Samburu Project
    • confidential
    Implementation Status: completed Thu 24 May 2012, Almost 12 Years ago

    Stephanie Ng's Visit- May 2012

    We arrived at the well to find an older girl and younger school boy at the well. They had brought three big jerry cans with them and in no time they filled two of them while we were with them. Realizing that these children would not be able to answer most of our questions, we headed back to town in search of the Head Master of the primary school, Fred Papaa Lemeleny. On our way to the school, we actually ran into him! He had heard we were in town and had gone out looking for us. Even before I could ask any questions, he immediately conveyed his thanks and appreciation for the good work that we had done. Because of this well and the easy access to clean, safe drinking water, children are now performing much better in school and many more are passing each year.

    He informed me that before this well, adults and children used to walk five kilometers or three hours each way to find water. The water that they brought home originated from shallow hand dug holes which meant that the water was dirty and contaminated. Children and teachers would get very ill from water-borne disease which prevented them from really excelling in their studies or jobs.

    The well is one kilometer from the school which is about a 20 to 30 minute walk. Now that they have a safe water source that is clean and nearby, teachers now have time to thoroughly cover the syllabus. They no longer have to worry about getting water before and after school and instead can use this time to look over their lessons and be prepared for next day’s class. This has led to far better and effective performances on the part of the teachers. Likewise, students use this saved time to focus on their studies.

    Not only are students doing better in their studies but more children are now able to go to school. Whereas before there was only 350 students enrolled at the primary school, since the well was placed in this community, there are 480 students!!! Almost 40% of the students are girls. I hope with each well visit this number only continues to rise as more families will be able to send their children to school.

    In addition to the students, the community at large (more than 1,000) takes water from this well despite having a community borehole. Fred told me that the reason for this is because the water from the borehole is very salty whereas the water from the well is very fresh and pure.

    Each well visit opens my eyes to just how water truly is a catalyst for so many opportunities. With water, people become educated. And education is the key to their future. Furthermore, despite all the challenges we face on the ground, seeing Sere Olipi Primary School Well and how it has changed the future of so many school children despite the rocky beginning (referring to the initial dry well), renews my hope and faith that nothing can prevent us from continuing our work and impacting lives for the better

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  • Impact Assessment (M&E) Phase Project completed on 28 Oct, 2011 Implementation Phase
  • Kristen Kosinski of The Samburu Project
    • confidential
    Implementation Status: complete_unsuccessful Mon 17 Oct 2011, Over 12 Years ago

    Dry Well

    We are very sad to say that this well was dry. After drill 71.5 meters, no water was found. The community was reported to be in good spirits. We are committed drilling another well in the name of Walk4WaterPGH. Waiting for Kariuki to give us the additional survey to ascertain where and when the well will be drilled.

  • Kristen Kosinski of The Samburu Project
    • confidential
    Implementation Status: in_progress Wed 03 Aug 2011, Over 12 Years ago

    Red Tape in Well Drilling

    When Lucas went to the Water Resource Management Authority to pick up permits for our 10 wells, he first learned that the office was no longer in Nanyuki but had moved to Isiolo. When he finally arrived in Isiolo he was met with many challenges. For our previous four well drills, we have always produced the Hydrogeological Reports, an application and wrote a check and permits were given on the spot. Not this time! Not until this morning, 21 days after Lucas' initial visit to the WRMA, did we actually receive permission to begin drilling (still waiting for permits!).

    Lucas had to go back to EVERY community and get titles for the land we are drilling on. The challenging aspect of this is that no one "owns" the land in Samburu as it is the land of the community. He wrote agreements with the area chiefs, area counselors and key elders which stated that they were donating the land to the designated women’s group. When he went back to the WRMA with the Title Deeds, they then told him that he had to get a Constitution from EVERY women's group!!! Fortunately, Naibosho Women's Group in Wamba, an umbrella organization has representatives from all of the area's women’s groups. Instead of going back to ALL the communities again, he was able to use their Constitution. And lastly, a new association called the Water Resource User Authority has been formed. Lucas had to get three members of their committee to sign a letter saying that The Samburu Project has done a good job. Unfortunately, the three people who needed to sign live in three different places; Laikepia, Maralal and Archer’s Post which caused major logistical challenges.

    After Lucas spent week gathering the necessary materials and return to the WRMA office in Isiolo, it turns out that the person who is in charge was away for some time. Then, when he returned yesterday, after Lucas spent three days waiting for him, the computers in the office were down.

    All part of the adventures in well drilling...onward and upward!

  • Kristen Kosinski of The Samburu Project
    • confidential
    Implementation Status: in_progress Sat 23 Jul 2011, Over 12 Years ago

    Site Selection DAY 1

    After surveying seven locations, a viable site was found.

    • Sere_oli...
  • Implementation Phase Project started on 22 Jul, 2011 Preparation Phase

Funded by the Walk4Water PGH, The Samburu Project will drill and install a shallow well equipped with a handpump in this community.

Narrative

The children currently depend upon an unreliable water source, Sere Olipi Stream, located 1km from the school. Many children experience health issues due to waterborne diseases and lack of access to clean, safe drinking water.

Once the well is complete, the children can focus on their studies and stay in school as they will no longer be searching for water or getting sick from contaminated water.

The water will be used for drinking, washing clothes, cooking, bathing and farming.

Sustainability

Creating and measuring long-term impact

The school management board will act as the water committee. They will hire a day and night guard and manage the well in terms of maintenance and repairs. They will communicate with TSP in the event that there is an issue with the well. A community fund will be established once the well is drilled in August 2011.

Other Issues

Unusual and unexpected issues faced during project execution

This is one of three wells we will drill in the Sere Olipi location which is a new project area for The Samburu Project. Though it is only 45km from Wamba, our headquarters, there are no roads that go directly between the two towns. It takes about 10 hours to walk from Wamba to Sere Olipi. By car it takes a couple of hours, assuming there are no unforeseen issues. There are a number of challenges for The Samburu Project in Sere Olipi which are best described in Lucas Lekwale's August 28th email below:

"Kristen...

I hope this finds you well. There are a number of challenges that we encountered while doing hydrological survey in Sere Olipi that I would like to bring to your attention. The challenges are as follows;

1. In 2006, Masaai Barefoot Technology (MBT) surveyed more than 6 wells in Sere Olipi. The community entry point was poor, only a few politically correct people were involved in site selection which the community was not happy about. The people involved selected sites in or near their homesteads. This project never kicked off despite community clearing bushes, making roads, collecting sand, hardcore and stones for building. The community felt exploited, cheated upon and empty.

Our challenge:
It was very difficult for me to convince the community on the integrity of our program because they had a bad experience with the MBT project. In fact, they were reluctant on our mobilization. It took a lot of energy and experience to finally make them understand.

Way forward:
This community needs more visits for mobilization/sensitization.

2. Bad Terrain - as seen in the pictures for Nairisha Community, it was very difficult for us to access this point using our 4-wheel drive cars. The road is bad and so is the bush.

Way Forward:
We need to go to this community early and make the roads passable and ready for drilling in mid-August.

3. New Area/Virgin for Shallow Wells - Sere Olipi is a new area for shallow wells and boreholes, therefore this concept is new to the community.

Way forward:
There is need to do more community meetings, educating them about the wells.

Recommendations:

There is a need to mobilize these communities early next month, latest on 5th for bush clearance, collection of sand and hardcore.

Have a series of community meetings in Sere Olipi and Archer's Post bringing on board women, administration, opinion leaders and all stakeholders prior to drilling. This will give us head start as well as advocate on what we do.

All my Love
Lucas"

Learnings

Knowledge of project and process for sharing

After drilling 70.1 meters, no water was found. We had to declare it a dry well. This is always an extremely sad day for a community and The Samburu Project team. It is a risk that we always run and fortunately this has only been the 2nd time we have experienced this. We always do one extra site survey in the event of a dry well, so we hope to drill another well successfully in the name of Walk4WaterPGH.

Impact

People Impacted: 747

People Getting Safe Drinking Water: 747

The number of students at Sere Olipi Preschool and Primary School
Data Source: School Officials

School Children Getting Water: 747

We need to confirm with the school the number of staff and nearby community members who will benefit from the well.

People Getting Sanitation: 747

Improved sanitation has been an ancillary benefit of community water availability.

People Getting Other Benefits: 747

Water is the foundation from which all things grow. We expect that this community will receive many benefits beyond access to clean, safe drinking water.

Implementer: Not Applicable

Not Applicable

Funding

funded:
$13,000
Community:
$1,850
Final Cost:
$14,850

Plan/Proposal