Nataka maji- I need water.
Water is a basic necessity of life. However in the Samburu area the water sources are often unreliable. The area recently suffered a major drought from which it is slowly recovering. Added to that is the distance and infrastrucutural issues I have mentioned before.
We visited a number of water projects that had been funded by ICROSS. These pictures are about a borehole that had been dug about 2 years ago. But for the last 3 months the pump has been broken. There had been some difficulty finding a new pump part and in consequence the community in the area have to travel up to 10 kilometres to another water source. I can understand how mistakes cam be made in accessing suitable spare parts, but relying on Ministry of Health - try as it does - or the local community to maintain the water supplies and schools and other community supports that have been seed funded by NGOs may be premature. I absolutely understand the need to ensure that communities become self sustaining , but I question how quickly this can be expected to happen. The other question is in terms of immediate public health, and if a more medium term commitment to maintenance while lobbying for and developing other area of infrastructure would be a more effective longterm strategy? I don't know the answer at present- but I do know that the people I saw here were struggling to cope and were clear that a priority for them was restoring the water pump as soon as possible. AS for the other issues- NGOs such as ICROSS are just part of the picture- but perhaps we need to support them more explicitly to sustain the projects they help to start
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Was this borehole funded by ICROSS? Were the Masai looking to you to make it work again? The long term prospects for major droughts in many areas around the world are frightening. I heard farmers in pasts of Australia were showing rising rates of suicide over what looks like new permanent drought areas. It makes my mouth dry just thinking about traveling 10 kilometers to get a drink.
Yes originally funded by icross as a partnership with Ministry of health , as I understand it. However the pump broke and it took a few weeks to get the information to Maralal the neares town. Then someone had to get out to look at the pump. Then they ordered a new part - but when it arrived it was the wrong one - as I was leaving they had just got another part that by now I hope should be in place. Unlike here where one can phone or indeed order online and things get delivered fairly quickly, there are no roads in this area in Kenya, no regular deliveries or services, so getting messages or having things delivered is difficult and haphazard. For someone to get out and actually do the work required on the pump takes quite a bit of organisation. So as I said - the communities need to be supported to develop themselves, but somehow the NGOS also need to be there holding a watching brief on how the projects are going- and ICROS does that. Also Icross goes to areas where accessibilty is really difficult and the people are very deprived- I am not saying they do not keep an eye on their projects- our visit shows that they do- I just have not completely sorted out in my own head how things such as repair and maintenance could be improved. However I do think the NGOs such as ICROSS who understand the local conditions are the people who can ensure it happens.
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