It was all so simple. Engage 100 sponsors, offer some
financial support, add a dose of coaching, encourage a few days of labor, ...;
just like that, Ola Nagele’s water problems were solved and with renewed
confidence, dignity and hope, they were on their way to a sustainable future,
the goal of GHNI’s TCD program.
OK, so I didn’t REALLY think it was exactly like this. A lot
happened in the three years since I first visited the Isiolo cluster of
villages. Water, nutrition, wellness, education and income factors were
addressed, each with its own village committee. It seems so orderly, five
issues, five solutions. Then, in 2014, I went back. I would soon realize that
it was not simple at all.
The big news at Ola Nagle wasn’t the water program, but the
successful beginnings of income projects. Women’s groups were formed and
members given small sums as a “micro-loan.” The businesses they started were
interesting and successful. Rope making, a fresh milk stand and a shop
providing camel intestine soup were changing the lives of the women who
conceived of and built these enterprises. Exciting developments, for sure ...
A Women's Income Group in a mentoring session
Micro loans are provided for business startups
Weaving rope for sale in the village
Fresh milk by the cup at her kiosk
Camel intestine soup from her small shop
Returning to the issue of water, let's look at the 2014
visit to the village of Attir and developments that followed. Wubshet and
Habiba had spent much time with Attir and they were considering engaging in the
TCD program. While they were interested, they were also skeptical as a result
of a less-than-effective engagement with another group in the form of an
impressive water tank on a tower ... with no provision whatsoever to actually
get water into it.
Attir's water tank
The visit was the first for GHNI staff from the U.S. Jeff
Power was leading the trip and we all listened as the village explained their
needs and articulated their skepticism. One of the elders pointed to the tower
saying, “That is our statue.” They actually wanted to just tear it down.
When it came time for Jeff to speak, he reminded the village
of the things Wubshet and Habiba had already taught them about TCD ... the
approach, the benefits, the responsibilities. Then he emphasized that GHNI took
its role seriously and promised that they would stand with the village during
the course of the program. But he also challenged them. They would promise to carry
out their roles; those in planing and execution of, and contributions to the
efforts. It was a critical juncture. But all agreed that being a TCD village
would be good for Attir and so it was decided. Attir needed a helping hand up
in every area of the TCD program: water, nutrition, wellness, education, and
income. Water was the most pressing issue, but the village would, as was
required, form committees and engage with GHNI in mentoring.
An elder at Attir addresses the meeting between the village and GHNI
I’ll have to say it was pretty exciting to see what unfolded
that day under the shade of the elder tree in this village in the harsh bush of
central Kenya.
Much happened during the rest of the visit. But, there was
this thing ...
We learned that the women of Attir, as is their lot, rose early every
morning, took up their 20-liter yellow jerry-cans, and ventured out through the
bush on a mile-and-a-half trek to the “river” where they filled their
cans, then walking, now heavy-laden, back to their homes.
What I am about to relate is in no way a “walking in their shoes”
experience. I cannot imagine, even after we walked with a few men and women of
the village to the river, what it is like for that to be a daily chore that means
nothing less than survival. It is, truly, beyond what I can comprehend.
So, we walked. A few of the women, one with a large yellow
container and a smaller one, cut to serve as a scoop, and some of the men set
out from the village with us in tow. It was hot. The ground was hard, dry and rocky; the plant
life, what there was, prickling with spikes and thorns and barbs and all other
manner of weaponry designed to keep us at a distance. We were told that
elephants, snakes, lions and hyenas might be encountered; their experience was a meetup with a hyena being more likely. They did this walk. Every. Day.
The walk to the river for water
We arrived to see that the river was really just a small,
muddy stream. I could easily step across it. While not in evidence when we were
there, it was a popular place for watering camels, cattle, and donkeys. The
stream was more than just muddy.
The lady with the large container was regally outfitted in a
colorful wrap over a torn, faded, yellow T-shirt. She had beaded bracelets on
both wrists. And she carried the most amazing collection of necklaces on her
shoulders, reaching up to under her chin and ears. Yellow, red, blue; all
arranged, I suspect, in an order that had meaning regarding her station in the
village. Perhaps one of the necklaces identified her as a water carrier.
Collecting the dirty water from the river
She stooped down and began to transfer the foul water from
the stream to the large can. About halfway through the filing process, instead
of emptying the scoop where she had the others, she brought it to her lips and
drank ...
Drinking directly from the muddy waters ...
... that others partake of nearby
It was hard for me, watching this woman bear the burden of
her role, a burden decidedly weightier than the container of water she had just
filled. So, you might expect that we immediately engaged donors and rushed to
provide a well for the village. But it was complicated ...
A source of funds was available for a well, but a decision – a
hard decision – was made. The Attir water committee would assume responsibility
for finding a Kenyan organization to assist them. They were mentored in life
skills related to finding resources, presenting their story and making
decisions to ensure proposed solutions were low tech, low cost, and locally
available and appropriate. It took them some time. I have no idea how hard it
was, accepting this responsibility, finding and dealing with organizations,
many of which could not, or would not, engage with them. But in the end, they
succeeded.
APHIAplus, a Kenya-led, USAID funded non-governmental organization
(NGO) agreed to partner with Attir. This success was followed by some
disappointments. Planned activities were delayed. The Attir water committee
kept up the dialog, but also worked on alternate solutions. It was hard to watch
this glacially-paced progress in the monthly Village Reports; imagine how difficult
it was to live it, to be SO CLOSE but with clean water still out of reach.
I went back in 2015. In the time since the previous visit, the
water committee worked out a plan to collect rainwater. It makes sense,
collecting and storing rainwater. But it doesn’t rain much in Isiolo and most
of what comes is in two short rainy periods, the rest of the year being dry ...
the kind of dry you can feel; the kind with an aroma exactly opposite that of the fragrance after the rain.
There was also an agreement with the nearby village of Chuviyare
to connect their well and pump to Attir with a 3-mile pipeline. Water would be
pumped two or three days a week. The pipe failed under the pressure with high
temperatures weakening the PVC material suspected as a contributing factor.
The women of Attir still walked through the bush.
May of 2016; my fourth visit to the Isiolo cluster of
villages. The preschool in Attir had grown to two rooms. Several women in the
village were nearing the end of the intensive Tailoring and Dressmaking program
at the Empowerment Center in town.
But, the women of Attir still walked through the bush.
After this trip, the good news finally came ... the June
2016 Village Report announced that a borehole had been sunk in the village. APHIAplus
and the Attir water committee had worked out all of the details and the long
awaited nearby source of clean water had arrived. Or had it ...
A borehole is drilled in the village of Attir!
Just prior to going back to Isiolo in December of 2016, we
heard that the borehole was capped while the water committee worked on the
issue of a pump. The plan was to get a solar powered electric down-hole pump,
something that had worked well in Gambella, just a couple of miles from Attir and GHNI’s first TCD graduate village. We visited the site. It was wonderfully
sad ... a borehole right in the village; water just a few meters away; no way
to get it out.
A big step for Attir, but the borehole casing is capped, waiting for a pump
And the women of Attir still walked through the bush.
Then, the best of news appeared in the April 2017 Village Report, ... Clean water was flowing freely into the village of Attir!
Success at last!
Back at Ola Nagle, I finally got caught up on where the village
sat in terms of water. It was not at all what I expected. Many homes now had
water taps in the yard. The water came directly from the municipal service and homeowners
took care of their own bills. There were some bumps along the way; the water
committee had problems paying the city for water that flowed through the
original system with the two tanks. But with guidance, encouragement and
reminders that this was their problem to solve, they got it sorted out.
The simple joy of getting water from your tap
Ola Nagele’s success – after that represented by the supply
of the two large tanks – went unnoticed by me for years. The lesson: the village would continue to move forward after the almost insurmountable barrier had been
removed. The development was, of course, supported by GHNI in the form of
counsel, encouragement and further supported by progress in the other four TCD focus areas.
But the most important factor in the ongoing progress is to
be found in this:
Confidence, dignity and hope had returned to the villages
...
Coming up next: Confidence,
Dignity and Hope
No comments:
Post a Comment