July Visit

Routine Visit. Well is in good working condition.

Stephanie Ng's Visit- May 2012

As we drove up to Embakasi Well, Lucas immediately noticed that they had begun to till several acres of land for farming. He informed me that this well community has for some time expressed their desire to have a farm and Lucas was happy to see that they took the initiative to get it started. A few meters away from the tilled soil, on slightly higher ground, was a nursery with many seedlings. As we were admiring this nursery, William Lolkiriari, one of the well committee members, came up on his motorbike. He had spotted us when we drove past his house towards the well. He pointed out the different things that they were growing in the nursery: kale, peanuts, tomatoes, peppers. The target size of this farm is 3 acres and they hope it will feed 200 people or 22-30 households. They are planning on selling the surplus vegetation in town. William expressed that the community would like a generator and a complete piping system to irrigate their farms in the hopes of expanding the harvest. Lucas conveyed to him that we are currently putting on hold any new agricultural initiatives and instead will study the harvest and impact of our current initiatives to determine their long-term impact on the community.

Before, women used to walk 6 hours to get water. Now it takes mere minutes to get to the well according to William. With the saved time, the community is working hard on this farm- as we had already noticed, William pointed out that they have begun tilling the land and started growing a variety of seeds that have already started sprouting. Personally, William is able to hire out his motorbike and make a profit with the time saved. Women can also make money by selling their bead work at town and now have time to tend to domestic duties and look after livestock.

William attested that the well has really changed community life because now more people can get jobs and earn money. The money they earn is used to pay for school fees (secondary and up) and buy more food than before. Whereas households used to be very sick from the dirty water and had very little to eat, now they can afford to eat more and are drinking clean water. Almost all of the children goes to school. William believes that there are more than 300 children in nursery and more than 350 in primary school. The ratio of boy students to girl students is 50:50 and William said that this reflects a huge increase in the number of girls that can now attend. However he pointed out that not only is school very far away – children have to walk two kilometers each way to school – but whereas primary education is paid by the government, there is a huge dropout in student enrollment after primary school because many families cannot pay for secondary school. They are hoping that the surplus they make from the farm as well as the other money-making activities they now have time to pursue will help to put more children through secondary school.

Regarding the condition of the well, initially the well had no problems. However about two years ago one of the well committee members spoiled the well by puncturing many holes in the pipes. That community member has since been replaced. Because it is very costly to replace the pipes, the community could only repair a few of the pipes. As a result, the well has not been pumping as it did when it was initially installed though the volume of water being pumped up is still very strong and the well has never stopped working. There are still 4 punctured pipes that need to be replaced. In order to replace these parts, every time we have a well drill, Lucas will request extra pipes from the well drilling company. He will do this for as long as it takes to replace these 4 punctured pipes. In terms of paying for these parts, the community normally has each household (there are more than 200 households that use this well) contribute 20 shillings per month. If however the pipes are more expensive than what they have in the fund, the well committee will raise the fees to cover the amount. Recognizing that it was one of their members that tampered with this well, the community is taking extraordinary ownership and responsibility of this well.

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Kristen Kosinski's Visit - February 2011

On her visit Kristen met with a variety of community members, including elders, women and children. Below is the information she gathered on this visit:
-Community improved cement slab and added a lock.
-Very enthusiastic and capable community. They have done a good job of taking care of their well.
-Rubber replaced during our visit
-Community no longer suffers from diseases like cholera. The children of the community are healthy.
-They community is growing produce to sell.

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