Newsletter - August 2011 Endonyo Rinka Water Project

LOCATION: remote Maasai community located in the South West of the Narok district. POPULATION: approximately 8,500. CURRENT WATER SUPPLY: standing ground water during the short rainy season and polluted springs shared with wild animals during the dry season.

Hi everyone - were Ben and Harri, Dig Deeps Water Project Managers. Over the last two months weve been in Kenya working to improve water access at Endonyo Rinka a remote Maasai community in the south west of the country (just to the North of the Maasai Mara). This update is to let everyone know what weve achieved so far and our plans for the coming weeks. Ourselves and Dig Deeps other project managers will be sending these updates out every few months, just so you know the impact the money youre raising is having right now on peoples lives we think its really important that you know the effect your work has, so please read on... WATER ACCESS BEFORE DIG DEEP ARRIVED - When we arrived the entire community took their water from only three springs, which meant they had to walk long distances to collect water e.g. the children at the primary school had to make a 3k round trip. The water in all of these is stagnant and polluted, and used for both drinking and washing by the local community, their livestock and wild animals. Waterborne diseases are common and every few years someone is killed or severely injured by the elephants that also use the springs.
Contaminated spring water

The only access to clean water for the community was a 16ft well in the grounds of the local primary school. Unfortunately, the hand-pump used to collect this water no longer functions despite various attempts to repair it, meaning that the community members and school children have removed the covering to draw water out with buckets. This has left the well open to contamination and the fact that it is not being pumped means the water has become stagnant and is no longer fit for human consumption.
Students collecting spring water

SOLUTION - TWO WATER PROJECTS: We had planned to drill a borehole at the primary school. However, thanks to the hard work and enthusiasm of you guys - our expedition fundraisers - we have gone well over our fundraising target for the project. We were aiming for 30,000 and have now raised 50,000! Also, a Canadian NGO called A Better World who run the communitys clinic offered to work in partnership with us by using their drilling rig to sink the borehole, which reduced a large part of the borehole costs. Given this, working in partnership with the fantastic local Olare Orok Conservancy Trust, we decided to go ahead with two projects rather than one, to get even more clean water to the community: 1. Create an independent water supply for the school through improving its existing well and constructing rainwater harvesting. 2. Drill a borehole in the grounds of the local clinic and use our extra funding to pipe this water across the community.
Elephant near community spring

1: SCHOOL PROJECT: this is still underway and within the next month the following will be finished: Rainwater Harvesting and Storage we have placed guttering and piping on the six major buildings at the school to catch all of the rainwater that hits the roofs. So that none of this goes to waste, we have also repaired the existing concrete tank and installed eight more concrete and plastic tanks to give the school over 100,000 litres of water storage. A Solar pump once we test-pumped the existing well we found that it could produce a sustainable yield over 2,000 litres per hour. Even if we replaced the existing hand pump with a new one, this would only be able to pump a fraction of this, and so we are now installing a solar pump (which has all the benefits mentioned in our note on sustainability below).

BACKGROUND ON SCHOOL: SIZE: There are 700 students currently attending Endonyo Rinka Primary, and the school plans to expand to cater for 1,000 students. DEVELOPMENTS: Thanks to the hard work of the school staff and the Olare Orok Conservancy Trust (OOCT), construction has just been completed on two new dormitories and a canteen. These now mean that the school has boarding facilities for 200 students (50% of whom are girls). However, these new dormitories were unable to open due to lack of water access.

Piping around the school the water is now being piped to the canteen for drinking and cooking, and also to the newly built toilet blocks this is really important for hygiene because it finally allows the students to wash their hands and shower regularly, as the school has taught them to in their hygiene education classes.

Completed rainwater harvesting on girls dorm

Students collecting water from the test-pumping of the broken well

Construction of one of the 25,000 litre storage tank to hold well water

2: BOREHOLE AT THE CLINIC This project has just begun and the borehole was successfully drilled earlier this week. A crowd gathered (at a safe distance!) as the drilling began and before long saw water spurting tens of metres into the air. The final depth was 110 metres and the initial indications are that there will be enough water to pipe it across the whole community using a solar pump in the next few weeks were holding a community meeting to discuss all of this with the water committee and make a final plan for where the pipes should go.

Mother and daughter get their seat early

Crowd gathers as drilling begins

The drill hits the first aquifer at just over 50m

LOCAL OWNERSHIP AND SUSTAINABILITY We know that it is vital that with every project we do, the local community is both willing and able to take complete ownership over the project. Community Contribution The community has been the key part of the planning process, has already contributed 10% of all the funding needed for the school project and is now finalising their contribution to the borehole and piping. This is important because the community needs to be the driving force in the project if it is to be sustainable. Maintenance Fund Even the best water infrastructure will not last forever without maintenance, and so it is important that there is a fund in place to pay for this when it is needed. Were very happy to say that the school has already made a detailed plan to put aside money each month for the maintenance. This will ensure the project continues working for decades into the future. For the borehole project the community has already elected a water committee (just under 50% of which are women) that will collect a community maintenance fund the exact figures for this will be finalised at the community meeting this month. Renewable Energy: Most wells in the area are harnessed with diesel pumps while these are cheaper to buy, they mean that communities have to pay for fuel to run them and the pumps also break down frequently. In contrast, renewable energy pumps, such as the solar we are using at the school and the borehole, do not require money to run and rarely break down. Also, the community at Endonyo Rinka is exceptional in that three of the local women have the incredible achievement of becoming trained solar engineers - despite being illiterate - and so they will be able to fix the system should it break down. GRAND OPENING: The school held its opening ceremony for the new dormitories and water supply last week the whole community and local dignitaries from across Kenya turned up to celebrate the fantastic education that the school will now be able to provide. None of this could happen without the water supply, and so the staff, students and entire community asked us to thank our expedition fundraisers in the UK for making all this possible.

SO THANK YOU

DIG DEEPS PROJECTS ELSEWHERE: We also have a range of other water, biogas and solar projects both happening at the moment and starting in the near future. The project managers overseeing these will be sending you updates over the next few months. FROM US: Weve just about got used to driving our motorcycle through prides of lion and being late for meetings because elephant are outside our door - but more importantly, it has been a privilege to work with the staff of the school, the wider community and the Olare Orok Conservancy Trust, to assist them in helping their community. We will keep you updated as both of these projects progress. If you have any questions about these, any of our other projects, fundraising or Dig Deep in general, please dont hesitate to get in touch with us directly our contact details are below. We look forward to meeting you all when were back in the UK - all the best, Ben and Harri Water Project Managers - Dig Deep Tel (UK) - +447952118852 , Tel (Kenya) - +254704204820, Email water@digdeep.org.uk