AMREF Kajiado Boreholes Project

Since the late nineties AMREF has rehabilitated/constructed 50 boreholes and 3 shallow wells with cost sharing from the beneficiary communities. The local communities were also educated in the field of sanitation and hygiene. Furthermore AMREF is currently focusing on completing all rehabilitated boreholes as such that they all form proper demonstration models for environmental health promotion. For this reason additional sanitation and hygiene facilities and a thorough environmental conservation component is added. The latter is done in close partnership with the Green Belt Movement. Kumpa I borehole is part of this integrated environmental health program in Kajiado.

Goals overview

Better health and livelihoods for the Masai at Enkirrgirri/Nkaiserri in Kajiado District, Kenya through:
➢ The number of people using safe and adequate drinking water will increase from the current 1.000 to 3.000
➢ Promote the use of safe sanitation and hygienic practices, by means of demonstrating the good practice around the borehole site
➢ The number of children under 5 years old in the project area suffering from water borne diseases (cholera, diarrhea), will decrease with 30%
➢ Promote community based afforestation and soil conservation

Current status

Community mobilization for the realization of the additional facilities has just started. Due to drought there was a delay in community mobilization, so construction work has not started yet. Of course the basic infrastructure is already present, because this project builds on the larger Kajiado environmental health program.

Project plan

Background information Kajiado:
The Kajiado district in Kenia is mainly inhabited by the nomadic Masai population and their cattle. Safe water sources are very scarce in this arid area. In the Namanga en Mashuru divisions only 30% of the population has access to safe water (according to the latest baseline survey of July 2007). The Masai also have scarce access to sanitation facilities and there is little knowledge about the importance of hygiene and health promotion. Moreover, the area suffers from the consequences of climate change and from the overburdening of the environment, among others due to illegal wood cutting for the charcoal industry and overgrazing by cattle. Decreasing ground water levels, increasing erosion, changing micro climate and severe drought alternated by heavy rains are the consequences.

Background of AMREF’s water, sanitation environmental conservation and health promotion activities in Kajiado

AMREF’s approach
AMREF had health programmes in Kajiado, focusing on different diseases. Through AMREF’s experience it appeared that there is a strong demand for more integrated and people-focused health promotion interventions rather than disease focused interventions. For that reason AMREF is implementing a new strategy, which aims to meet that demand. It is aimed that AMREF’s interventions contribute to closing the gap between the formal health system and communities. Capacity building, community partnering and health system research in order to gather evidence to support advocacy, are the main pillars of this new strategy. In the light of this new strategy and based upon lessons learned in the past, the water and sanitation activities in Kajiado are complemented and integrated with components that accomplish sustainability and health promotion.

Kajiado Boreholes Project
Since the late nineties AMREF has rehabilitated 47 boreholes in the last years with cost sharing from the beneficiary communities, with support from Waterleidingmaatschappij Drenthe (41 boreholes) and several other parties (6 boreholes) under the Kajiado Boreholes Project. This project also provided education of the local communities regarding sanitation and hygiene. For every borehole a borehole committee was formed and educated in operating and maintaining the boreholes both technically and financially. Moreover, an organisation has been established, which consists of an umbrella association that covers 7 borehole clusters. A borehole cluster typically covers 7 boreholes. Currently, a capacity building component is implemented focusing on strengthening of water and sanitation management, operation and maintenance and on hygiene and prevention of major diseases. It is estimated that 46,000 - 69,000 people will be directly or indirectly reached by these project components .

Kajiado WASHEC Project
In the last quarter of 2006 AMREF has started another project in cooperation with the Green Belt Movement: Water, sanitation, hygiene and environmental conservation for improved health and livelihoods in Namanga and Mashuru divisions in Kajiado district, Kenya (Kajiado WASHEC Project). Under this project 10 boreholes will be rehabilitated, 2 boreholes will be constructed and 10 shallow wells with hand pumps and 1 earthen dam will be realised. The capacity building component is comparable to the Kajiado Boreholes Project. Also Trainers of Trainers are educated in order to in health improvement and health prevention. Furthermore the project has an extensive environmental component: trees will be planted in the vicinity of the water sources in order to prevent decrease of the ground water table. The population surrounding the water sources will be sensitized and educated about environmental conservation and sustainable usage of natural resources.

Additional needs for hygiene and sanitation facilities and environmental component
The status quo at the moment of this writing (beginning of 2009) is that 53 water sources , 50 boreholes and 3 shallow well, are members of ‘AMREF clusters’. All water sources have committees for operation and maintenance and the population surrounding the 53 water sources have been sensitized and educated about the importance of hygiene, sanitation and water management and maintenance. However, in order to accomplish an integrated and sustainable health improvement in the project area there are components that should be added specifically per borehole. This proposal specifically focuses on realization of additional facilities at specific water source sites for hygienic water and sanitation practices and environmental conservation practices. In annex I an elaborate overview of components, specific per water source is given. In annex II the preliminary lay out of the envisaged borehole site and the preliminaryof the facilities

4. Proposed project: realization of additional needs at Enkirrgirri/Nkaiserri borehole sites

Further to what is described above, it is herewith proposed to realize the additional needs for Eiti and Tima borehole sites. Of course the goal, objective and results are concurrent with the ongoing activities of AMREF in Kajiado. Hereunder, the objectives are outlined specifically for the project component that is herewith proposed.

4.1. Goal:
Improving health and quality of life of the most vulnerable people in Kajiado by increasing access to sustainable water sources and sanitation. As such the project directly contributes to Millennium Development Goal 7.

4.2. Objectives:
➢ The number of people using safe and adequate drinking water will increase from the current 1.000 to 3.000
➢ Promote the use of safe sanitation and hygienic practices, by means of demonstrating the good practice around the borehole site
➢ The number of children under 5 years old in the project area suffering from water borne diseases (cholera, diarrhea), will decrease with 30%
➢ Promote community based afforestation and soil conservation

A community owned management structure has been established, which consists of an umbrella association (the Kajiado Integrated Development Initiative: KIDI) that covers 9 borehole clusters. A borehole cluster typically covers 7 boreholes. Currently, this cooperative water supply company is in the process of becoming independent. Operation and maintenance is financed from the water revenues from the communities themselves under supervision of KIDI. Ownership is created by true community partnering, because the whole management structure is community owned. As such it not only ensures physical sustainability of the facilities, but it also airs the voice of the rural communities of Kajiado, enabling them to claim their right to water. Through the partnership with the Green Belt Movement the sustainability of the environment in general and the ground water table in particular is addressed: tree planting and an awareness about an integrated approach to water sourcing and recharging ground water aims to create sustainable water sources.

Gender is still an issue in the project. Although female representation in the borehole committees is up to standard (approximately 40%) it remains a challenge to ensure that the representation and the level of decision making are in balance. This is thoroughly addressed by means of sensitization and awareness creation. To sensitize the Masai population about gender remains a challenge though.