Kenya: Learning lessons in Lodwar

Joanne Offer is blogging from northern Kenya. See all her posts here.

Trips to the field are great for learning about what the International Rescue Committee is doing well, as well as learning about how we could do things even better next time. So when we visited Narusebo village, a relatively short but very bumpy drive from Lodwar Town, we had a long talk with the men and women of the village's water committee.  

Late last year, the IRC helped the committee to fix their generator and install water points, meaning water could be pumped from an existing well around the village. Before this, the villagers had to walk 5km to collect dirty river water.  

Women like Margaret (pictured here) told us that the new water system has made life so much easier: they can now easily drink and bathe in clean water, as well as water their small vegetable gardens. However, now that fuel prices are soaring, it's difficult for the village to afford to run the generator. Margaret and committee told us that if prices continue to rise, they might have to stop using the pump altogether.  

One possible alternative is to use solar-powered pumps. These pumps don't need fuel, just the unrelenting African sun. But the downside is that they can't pump water long distances. In future, we'll definitely consider all options, despite their limitations, so that villages like Narusebo continue to have clean, safe water.