Water Project

This is where I will go a little more into detail about the water project I am trying to start at Faraja. It started out as a mentioned of "they should install some gutters around the house," from my Kenyan friend and fellow volunteer, Ian, one day at work. It was a mere mention, but it stuck with me. I came to Kenya knowing that I wanted to start something long-lasting for Faraja, something that will keep helping them after I have left. I thought it over that night and brought it to Moraa's attention the next day.

I can hardly explain how much water the home uses. They need water for everything! For watering their livestock, which helps bring them income. For watering the garden, which helps to feed them. For washing blankets of the young kids who wet the bed, , for hand-washing laundry for the 34 children. For cleaning and sanitizing dishes to eat three meals a day. Not to mention for keeping all the kids healthy and hydrated. For cooking. For bathing. ... as you can see the list goes on and on. It doesn't take a rocket scientist to say that water is an absolute necessity. It is, after all, the most important resource we as human beings can have.

The home is currently spending a huge amount of money on water, and considering the home is being run strictly on donations this can be very overwhelming for them. Due to the water privatization in Kenya companies are able to make this commodity very expensive and people like Mama Moraa are left with no choice but to pay the price. Multiple times in the last six months water has ended up costing them more than rent. In fact, in the month of April they spent double the amount of rent on water alone.

Since I know nothing about building gutter systems in Africa I assumed that this would be a relatively inexpensive project to take on. After meeting with a contractor, I found out how very wrong I was. The project is much bigger than I expected, but if I am going to do this I want to do it right. They need a very large water collection tank, somewhere between 6-10,000 liters. They need the gutters themselves which we might make from large iron sheets or even use PVC pipe rather than buy pre-made gutters to help lower the cost. We need nails, timber, labor, and a platform to keep the very water-heavy tank on. After talking with a few engineers, I have come to understand better exactly what I am taking on, and I have to say it's quite a lot. However, it is still something I feel very strongly about. If I can help Faraja lower their monthly bills this will help them live a much better life.

I know I have asked for a lot from everyone following my blog, but if anyone has change to spare and wouldn't mind pitching in I can't say how much it means to me and the kids. If everyone pitches in ten bucks we can reach this goal in no time... If you can't pitch in then please spread the word. Share the poster and the info anywhere and everywhere you can. If anyone would like me to send them a digital image of either poster please let me know. The more people who see this the more likely someone is to help out.

Thank you!
Portia

Any donations can be made at: http://www.longonoteducation.org/donate.html