Mary Mwendwa
September 29, 2015
Villagers in the small Kamurio village in East Pokot, Chemolingot District of Baringo County in Kenya’s Rift Valley can now breathe a sigh of relief after a water kiosk was constructed in their community.
A water kiosk is booth for the supply of tap water. They are common in many developing countries.
And in Kamurio village, where effects of climate change coupled with infrastructural hitches and cultural challenges continue to hinder development, a water kiosk is real a savior.
The rocky rough terrain; shrubby vegetation; scattered huts and lots of livestock are a clear indication of how life looks like in Kamurio village. The area’s hot dry climate and seasonal rivers that have very limited or no supply of water at times make it worse.
The kiosk was constructed by Mamlaka Hill chapel that runs a mission field at Kamurio Village and equipped by National Drought Management Authority (NDMA), ASAL Drought Contingency Fund (DCF) and funded by European Union (EU) through Kenya Rural Development Program.
Eunice Korir Chairlady, a mother of six and a resident of Kamurio village says the water kiosk has transformed their lives.
We are used to recurrent droughts; death of our livestock as a result of lack of water and pasture and malnourished children. But with this water kiosk, life has slowly improved. I now get more milk from my cows.”
Other beneficiaries of this project are patients at Kamurio Dispensary. Sylvia Wangui, a medic at this dispensary reveals that in the past, it was difficult to offer health services without enough water.
“It is difficult to offer health services without water. Many of the patients here need water to take drugs or for cleaning themselves after the long journeys. We are relieved now that we have water in this facility.”
Kamurio Primary School is one of the schools in the region benefiting from this water kiosk. Scholar Chemutai, a pupil of this school says before the construction of the water kiosk, they would walk miles every day to the nearest water source.
We used to walk long distances to fetch water for our school and home. We had no time to do our homework until very late in the night after fetching water.”
In Africa alone, people especially women and children spend 40 billion hours every year walking for water.
