Community in rural Kenya works together for water and income generation
Members of the water committee in Bagaria, Kenya.
Photo: FSK
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Some 10,500 people in Bagaria, Kenya, are gaining access to safe and clean local water and increasing household incomes with support from Church World Service and local partner Farming Systems of Kenya.
Bagaria community, in the Lare division of Nakuru district, Kenya, is an arid area most of the year. The main sources of water for this community are boreholes over four miles away. Women and children walk the distance and carry as much back as they can carry--often not enough.
Through the program, the families of Bagaria are working together for the installation of a new water point and the requisite pipe work. Through the effort they are reducing the time needed to get safe and clean water. FSK identified, organized, and trained a committee of community members that will oversee the program. Community members participated in the survey work, including bush clearing to pave way for water pipes, designing and constructing the water tap, and rehabilitating an existing water storage tank. Both young and old--men and women—have participated in the entire process, with women turning up in large numbers for the work. Now with more time available, families can increase household incomes through the extension of credit for agricultural activities.
Elijah Kiboi, 57, is a small scale Bagaria farmer. He and his wife, Leah, have five children. Kiboi says, "My wife and I were destitute and almost giving up in life. She had to walk long distances to... fetch water for domestic use while I toiled hard to get something from our land, but most of the time the rains failed, leaving us with nothing to eat, let alone to sell." Elijah Kiboi and his fellow Bagaria community members are looking forward to getting clean, safe, reliable, portable, and affordable water after the completion of this project.