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Kenya: So that water runs again
18 Apr 2013 Water, Sanitation and HygieneKenya
After the terrible drought that hit Kenya in August 2011 and threatened more than 12 million people with famine, Terre des hommes intervened in the north-eastern province of Garissa as an emergency. Tdh first of all brought material and technical support to the people. Today, the teams are still in place there and have opted for a more long-term view. With its knowledge of the terrain and the trust built up with the general public, Tdh has developed a project for constructing and renovating the system of water and sanitation in the Lagdera district, with a special programme set up for the schools.
Situated in the province of Garissa in the north east of the country, the district of Lagdera did not escape the worst drought in the past 60 years in Kenya. Over 70,000 people, most of them from a pastoral society, were confronted by particularly low levels of water and arid land.
So as to improve the conditions for water access for the people in the region, Tdh launched a project to supply water to the schools and health centres in the villages of Baraki, Gurufa and Shanta Abaq, with the installation of new infrastructures. 80% of the equipment was out of order and also had to be renewed: “In a region where there are only four functional wells in 80km, it is not the construction that poses problems, but their maintenance”, explains Bruno Pascual, Tdh’s specialist for water, sanitation and hygiene. Hand in hand with improving access to water, the project aims to build basic sanitary installations, in particular latrines, to avoid a part of the population having to defecate in the open. Community workers will also be made more aware of the issue and given training in the most usual practices of hygiene. They will act as intermediaries for Tdh and will have the role of explaining these practices to the communities in their turn.
Schools at the heart of the work
Parallel to this, Tdh supports 11 schools with 3,750 pupils. People will be made responsible for supervising the cleanliness and smooth functioning of the new installations. The pupils will have sessions on hand-washing, personal hygiene, use of the toilets, drinking water and maintaining the environment. But the youngsters will also have a big part to play and will themselves watch over hygiene in the district. Thanks to the programme ‘Child to Child’, which has already been successful in other countries of Tdh’s intervention such as Pakistan, the children will be able to put on plays or organize concerts on the issues of water that they can present in other schools.
After all is said and done, the project will enable this area, supporting some 20,000 people, to be better prepared to respond more effectively to the droughts that regularly occur in this province, by benefiting from access to water and basic sanitary installations. In an area that is extremely vulnerable to climate vagaries, by developing the skills of the people on the ground, Tdh enables the communities to be less dependent and to take their own destiny into their hands.
