Severe Shortage of Safe Drinking Water
In Kenya, as in much
of Africa, the lack of safe drinking water causes many severe
problems including dehydration, starvation and disease. The daily
chore of fetching water is no small task in rural Kenya, and young
women often walk as far as ten miles to collect what water they
can from a polluted, dirty, hand-dug well, full of parasites and
bacteria. These primitive wells are also structurally dangerous
and often collapse when they get deep enough.
In Kenya, the high
mortality rate among children under five years old is primarily
due to waterborne diseases such as gastroenteritis, diarrhea,
malaria, and amoebic dysentery, to name just a few. Contamination
from human and livestock waste is also a major cause of water-related
diseases, despite the sanitary disposal methods of most of the
population. Flies and other disease-carrying insects are drawn
to unsanitary water sites and compound the risk of infection.
All of these problems are exacerbated by the fact that economic
hardship, inadequate education, and lack of public transport prevent
many individuals from seeking healthcare in the early stages of
an illness.
The Kenya Water Wells Trust
Kenya
Water-Wells Trust was created to raise private funds to drill
modern borehole
wells and provide fresh drinking water for as many individuals
as possible throughout Kenya. These hand-pump wells have already
provided clean and safe drinking water for thousands of people
in remote regions. The Trust's goal is to drill at least fifty
more borehole water wells within the next two years.
Throughout Kenya,
Trust personnel monitor projects, provide technical support and
administer funding, with the careful management of donor funds
a top priority. To insure sustainable upkeep of the water points,
all local communities we serve are encouraged to participate actively
in their own water management, including maintenance and repair,
using kits and instruction provided by the Trust.
Kenya Water-Wells
Trust is a small grass roots non-governmental agency. Because
its administrative costs are minimal, the Trust is able to devote
funds directly to borehole well projects that bring fresh, life-giving
drinking water to drought-stricken Africans and their livestock.
Toni Law, who serves
as a Director, and her daughter, Tana Herbert, who is Executive
Director and Projects Officer, founded the Trust in February 2006.
Rounding
out the group are Duncan Kamau Ngochi, Kenyan Director, and
geologist Kariuki
Waruingo, who has a 95 percent success rate finding drill sites
and more than 900 boreholes to his credit. Pass Africa Ltd. is
the Trust's drilling partner in Kenya. This straightforward, passionate
team is committed to pursuing the Trust's goals.
"From the first
day I observed people and animals dying of thirst in Kenya's sun-baked
Northern Frontier District, I made a commitment to devote my time
and energy to helping the people of Kenya achieve access to safe,
clean water --- one of life's most basic requirements. As a single
mother of three, now living in such an amazing but impoverished
and undeveloped country as Kenya, I had an opportunity to take
a stand. Access to water is a God-given right. Water belongs to
all life on Earth, and access should not depend on a country's
wealth or political status. I wanted to do what I could
to serve these people in this fundamental need.- Tana Herbert,
Executive Director
Your Help Is Greatly Needed
It
is very simple: Water
is Life. Your help can mean the difference between life and death
for tens of thousands of people and animals. Even a small donation
can help us achieve our goal of drilling fifty water wells over
the next two years. All gifts will be tax deductible and put to
immediate use in Kenya.
