Water is of major importance to the Maasai way of life but low rainfall occasioned by prolonged periods of drought in Kajiado District has made it increasingly difficult to rear livestock for sale. The available natural water sources such as seasonal rivers and springs are few and far between; women and girls who are traditionally charged with the role of collecting water often have to walk long distances daily.
Many of these water points are unprotected and are often shared with the goats, cows and wild animals, which pose a health risk to the people. This coupled with poor hygiene and household sanitation practices have led to increased cases of water related diseases such as diarrhoea amongst children, cholera, dysentery and typhoid.
The Kajiado Shallow Wells Project aims to reduce the spread of water and sanitation related diseases through providing access to clean and safe water and good sanitation practices. It also aims to improve the livelihoods of the beneficiary communities by ensuring that they have enough water for their cattle as well as access to information about other health challenges such as trachoma, malaria and HIV/AIDS. The project uses locally sourced and cost effective materials to enable the communities to replicate the projects elsewhere. Community involvement as well as collaboration between various sectors, related Ministries and local government are key in AMREF’s interventions to ensure sustainability and local ownership of the projects. The project is funded by AMREF in Italy and began on October 2006.
The main aims of the project are to:
- Train and support Community Based Organisations to develop, implement, manage and evaluate water, sanitation and hygiene interventions.
- Increase access to safe water and adequate supply to 4,000 underserved households in two divisions of Kajiado district.
- Improve safe sanitation and hygiene practices in 4000 households and 16 primary schools.
- Pilot test innovative cost effective and appropriate technologies in water and sanitation.
The key achievements of the project include:
- Increased access to safe and adequate water and sanitation has resulted in a significant reduction of related diseases.
- In targeted areas, water points are now within two kilometres from households
- Increased school attendance by girls who no longer have to walk long distances for water and women now have time to do other social economic activities.
- Increased food production as a result of using well water to grow food crops.
- Increased household income as a result of using water for income generating activities.
- Intensified training of Community Own Resource Persons in safe sanitation and hygiene practices who in turn train their fellow communities.
- The same training has been carried out in schools through the PHASE project (Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Education) and there is evidence that pupils are imparting the same knowledge and practices to their parents when they return home.
