Challenges and solutions

By Rotary District 5450 Posted on Wed 25 Sep 2013, over 10 years ago

What you have already accomplished is truly remarkable and I hope to learn from your success. I'm trying to bring rain water harvesting to 54 rural schools scattered from Lake Victoria to the Trans Mara. Clean water for students and community members is one of our goals, but equally important is water for agriculture. When we established a well in the Masaii area south of Nairobi, there was water to drink but the women still have long distances to walk in order to fetch the water. Furthermore, only minimal interest was expressed in doing agriculture projects. They seem to honor their nomadic way of life, though some are willing to lease land to members of other tribes. Do you have a system for distributing the water in ways that reduce the distances women must travel.
You also mention that 1,000 women are now engaged in micro finance businesses and farming. Assuming that half of the 52,000 people served by your 52 wells are women, behavior change has obviously been a challenge. Do you find that the women living close to the water source are the ones that have been receptive to changing? I also wonder how you have developed your micro finance system. Banks in our area are reluctant to loan money without collateral and do not accept the concept of people vouching for each other until they have proven their ability to make good on loans. Do you provide small loans to get groups started?

Reports of historical wells and status of 12 well initiative of 2013

By Project Well Posted on Tue 10 Sep 2013, over 10 years ago

Hello,
There is an error in the date of implementation that needs to be edited. Waiting for the responses of the above questions.
My concern is about your historical wells: in total you have 65 projects uploaded on PWX and the Lauragi Well (D5W3) constructed in 2011 as per a third party report of Oct 17 2012 that it was serving well. Excellent. And Lopisewo Well (D1W2) constructed in 2006 is also reported by third party to be functional who has uploaded pictures but unfortunately none of the pictures show any people pumping water where it is claimed that 750 people are getting water from this well. We, the peer reviewers, are interested to see pictures of construction of wells, maintenance of wells and the use of the wells as seen in the Lorian/Golgotim (D2W5) Well uploaded by the third party visitor five years after completion. May be uploading pictures is not possible by the local partners due to lack of cell phone and internet access. Hope the funders can establish a way to resolve this issue through third party that is crucial to obtain accountability world wide. Do the local NGO members have cell phones, computers and internet access?

By The Samburu Project Posted on Wed 25 Sep 2013, over 10 years ago

Thanks Meera. I have to look at the photos you are talking about. Not sure why 3rd parties didn't take photos of the wells pumping. As you know, sometimes while in the field one gets stuck in the moment and documentation becomes secondary. I know this is a challenge for me personally. I have never specified to 3rd parties what kind of reporting we want, but am simply happy if they are willing to do a report on PWX as it isn't always easy to get this done.

As for our team on the ground, we are definitely technologically challenged with all of the above. Cell and internet service is challenging. The use of technology is limited. We try but do no always succeed.

questions on community funds, environmental protection and sanitation & hygiene training

By Lifewater International Posted on Sat 24 Aug 2013, over 10 years ago

I am excited to see this work in Samburu region. I have worked in the Marsabit District, though not Samburu, and it is a region much in need of WASH initiatives. Based on my experiences there I have several question for you:

-The environmental situation is very delicate in this region. I have seen where new wells end up leading to environmental degradation because of the following circumstance: A new well means that animals can stay near the good grazing areas and do not travel as far. This results in the land being over-grazed, and it is unable to recover from this and is essentially destroyed as more animals and people stay in the area of the well. Have you seen this and how are you protecting against this as it would lead to destroying the livelihoods of the Samburu in the long run?

-I am very impressed that the groups are able to collect $1,200 annually for the long term sustainability of the well. How is this done? If only about $250 is needed for the maintenance, what are the other collected funds being used for?

-I am surprised that an Afridev hand pump costs $250 wells to maintain annually in the beginning, especially as you suggest that the rubber parts are being provided by the manufacturer. Can you explain these costs?

-How are you doing sanitation and hygiene training in communities? Are you seeing sustained behavior change? These things are very difficult in arid regions (and with nomadic tribes if the tribes continue to be nomadic) and I am very interested in how you have gained success and traction.

Thank you for your time; I look forward to hearing from you.

By Aqua Clara International Posted on Thu 29 Aug 2013, over 10 years ago

I am also very familiar with the region, and excited to see access to water becoming more accessible. However, i do mirror Pamelas concerns about water points causing overgrazing, especially in these water scarce regions. I have seen these issues in the Tarangire and Loliondo regions of Tanzania as well.....with nothing being done to avoid it. I'm eager to hear how you are tackling this potential threat to the Samburu livelihood.

I also know issues with maintenance of Afridev wells are common, often causing them to fail. How is the manufacturer providing the parts? Are they leaving a supply at a local vendor, or do they have a continuous presence in the area. Is Samburu project working on a supply chain, ensuring parts and trained personnel to repair wells?

I look forward to your response.
Paul

By The Samburu Project Posted on Tue 17 Sep 2013, over 10 years ago

Pamela & Paul...

Thank you for your questions. Please see my answers below and let me know if you need any follow up.

Kristen

Environment:
Environmental impacts are a big consideration for The Samburu Project. Though communities are staying close to the wells, the warriors and men, take the animals away to pasture areas to graze. These pasture areas are determined by a council of elders who meet regularly to discuss grazing patterns. They dictate to the greater community where grazing can happen so as to diminish the possibility of overgrazing and environmental degradation. The well locations are taken into consideration in the decision making process.

Additionally, wells are not drilled within homesteads but at a distance. Well sites remain next to dry riverbeds and are surrounded by trees. Communities are not permitted to cut the trees in these areas so as to maintain the environment surrounding the well.

Community Fund:
As part of the community development process, The Samburu Project trains communities on establishing and maintaining a community fund for well maintenance and repairs. Once communities are trained, The Samburu Project does not have oversight over their funds as the wells along with the well funds belong to the community. We are simply available to offer assistance if need be in the forms of training and guidance. Thus, it is up to the community how they spend their additional funds. Many communities begin projects like brick making, agricultural initiatives, merry go round no interest loans, medical assistance programs, school fee programs etc.

The numbers are a bit misleading as the $250 number is The Samburu Project's allocated cost towards yearly well maintenance which includes things like staff salaries, cost of routine visits for monitoring, evaluation and training etc.

Hygiene & Sanitation:
We train communities on hygiene & sanitation at the well site during the drilling process. Then, after drilling is complete, water committee members join other well communities for a hygiene & sanitation workshop. The well committee members go back to their communities and train the greater community. As a follow up, during monthly routine visits, community members are retrained and reeducated.

The results vary from community to community. Some communities are able to implement proper hygiene and sanitation practices from the start and other need ongoing training to understand the importance of keeping their well clean. As The Samburu Project continues to expand, communities are more educated as they have seen examples of other well communities and hygiene and sanitation practices have been easier to implement.

Afridev Handpumps:
When wells are drilled, communities are left with a repair kit including spare parts. Additionally, The Samburu Project maintains a supply of spare parts that are available for purchase. Ideally, a local business take over the supply chain so as to take over so as to relieve The Samburu Project of this aspect of the business. Hasn't happened yet but we remain hopeful.

As I mentioned previously, communities are trained extensively on well repair. If need be, our team, including a well technician, is available to assist if communities cannot repair wells on their own for whatever reason. As the project grows, so grows the number of experts in the field so to speak.