So here is an example of a working borehole- These gorgeous women standing on each side of me were about to go to the market when we arrived to see the borehole- they are members of the key-holding family. The borehole itself is a center of activity- when we walked down to it there were some morans ( young warriors) there. Sorry no photographs as they actually had been washing , did not have all their jewellery ( or clothes) on and anyway were rather surprised to see a middle aged mzungu at their water hole. Many people in Kenya do not like to have their pictures taken and I made a point of not photographing anyone unless they were happy for me to do so.
So back to the water issue- if you look at the other pictures I have posted on Flickr you will see that around the well is green and fertile, and there is water available. As both humans and animals use this as a water source, one of the things that would improve the situiaton further is to build some facilities that separate the human and animal usage, as at present there is a possibility that the source itself can become contaminated by animal excrement. Also as I noted, it is being used for washing and so if a separate washing area was built with the run-off diverted away from the source it would also be an improvement. There are keyholders for the borehole and i was told that the water is locked to conserve it- however the cement lid over the source had been broken - clearly people were accessing the water through this when the pump was locked. But it was clear that the support given by ICROSS to provide the pump was very much appreciated, and has made a considerable difference to the people living nearby who now not only were following the traditional herder lifestyle but also were growing crops such as beans and maize
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