Report: D5W6: Nolkapur Well

Funded by an anonymous donor, The Samburu Project will drill and install a shallow well equipped with a handpump in this community.

This is a dry area. Access to clean drinking water is a nightmare. Women walk for long distances in search of water. Livestock die in huge numbers, especially during dry spells because of lack of water.

Once a well is drilled and the community has safe drinking water, the prevalence of waterborne diseases will decrease, distance to the water point will decrease significantly, and children will attend school rather than spending their time in dry riverbeds scooping water.

The water will be used for farming, drinking, washing, cooking and bathing as well as livestock usage.

This is 1 of 3 wells we will drill in the Sere Olipi location, a new project area for The Samburu Project. Though it is only 45 km from our headquarters in Wamba, there are no roads that go directly between the two towns. It takes about 10 hours to walk from Wamba to Sere Olipi; by road 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 email below from August 28th, 2010:

"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. Former Projects - 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.

Our 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.

Our Way Forward:
We need to go to this community early and make the roads passable, navigable 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.

Our Way Forward:
There is need to do more community meetings to educate members about the wells -their purpose, maintenance requirements, and future benefits.

Recommendations:

- There is a need to mobilize these communities early next month, the latest being on August 5, 2011 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 a head start as well as advocate what we do.

All my Love
Lucas"