Water Is Life Kenya Inc

I have been a volunteer with Water is Life Kenya for 2 years. It is an incredible organization which has provided clean, sustainable water to 100,000 people in southern Kenya. They have also created sustainable agriculture training for the Maasai, have developed a program to support widows, and have employed artisans and families who create handcrafted jewelery and other items. This is all done with with our director and founder, Joyce Tannian, a program manager, a part time staff member in Delaware, along with our cofounder and several staff in Kenya. There is minimal overhead and administrative cost, with the majority of donations going directly to the programs and people in Kenya. It is a privilege to be a volunteer with this great organization

WATER IS LIFE KENYA works with Charities and Volunteers to help Kenyans meet fresh drinking-water needs.

by Amleto A. Pucci, Jr.

Water Is Life Kenya (WILK) helps other NGOs bootstrap water supply projects in an Kenya too:
I began work as a volunteer for a water project in Kenya and went there in March 2017. My purpose was to help reengineer the water supply at the mission compound in the town of Kasarani, located about 30 km north of Nairobi city.

In preparation for that 2017 trip I reached out to American water resources organizations that were active on water projects in Kenya. I found an especially willing and helpful NGO, “Water is Life Kenya” (WILK) (https://waterislifekenya.com/), based in Newark, Delaware. They briefed me on work adjustments in the local culture and helped me prepare for my trip. They also agreed to assist me by liaising with the project staff at the Kasarani compound for me. They sent me some very helpful data which made my preliminary plan more effective. Because of them I was able to research the local water-resources regulations which I needed for the water project.

The compound is a religious community run by the Little Sisters of St. Francis (LSOSF) and an integral center for services to the poor and needy. From their compound they run a 200-bed regional hospital, a nursing school, educate from pre-school thorough secondary-level, and run a day-care center. They also have a community health-care program and serve nearly 60,000-outpatients a year. The 13-acre compound is surrounded by densely populated semi-slums that were built up around its perimeter over the past forty years since the mission was started.

The rapid population growth near the mission happened for several reasons: the migration trend from rural areas to urban centers and towns; amnesty from regional wars in South Sudan, Somalia, and Congo; refuge from ravages of East African droughts and starvation. As a result, the water resources and infrastructure of the county water department do not meet the large water needs around the mission. The water department cuts off water in this part of the county four days a week. This forces everyone to find means to store water for use later or find other sources. The LSOSF Mission had an old unreliable well and found ways to conserve water, however, in these measures were inadequate for the mission to provide its services to the community. So, each week they purchased 7-or8 tanker-trucks of freshwater.

Joyce Tannian, the Founder and Director of WILK, attended the project kickoff meeting at the Kasarani Mission. Other project team members included LSOSF, KIWASH (Kenya Integrated Water Sanitation and Hygiene Program—a US AID Project), and volunteers.

Much of the water project work was finished in 2018 and the water and treatment plant were dedicated but there is more to be done. The plan is that by 2021 the LSOSF will also supplement the county water department and they will become a water supplier (at-cost) for about 2,500 people in the surrounding neighborhoods. This work and a project add-on to help meet large energy demands for the growing operation are ongoing.

WILK Helps the Masai Tribe find Water for their Village:
After two weeks on site at Kasarani, I arranged a work break and made plans to visit WILK staff at their current water project site. I was driven to join a WILK team south of Nairobi then we travelled together from there to the village of Oloitokitok, located in the south Kenya, just north of Tanzania. The morning after I arrived, I took a long walk to a height in an open area of farmsteads outside the town. There I had a clear view of cloud topped Mt. Kilimanjaro and its mostly melted glaciers.

The WILK mission is to help the Masai people find their way into the 21st Century and do it in a manner that they maintain their integrity as an indigenous people. A most pressing concern for them as more land becomes cultivated and made private is finding ample, potable water for themselves and their livestock. Masai are traditionally nomadic herders, moving between grazing areas with access to enough water. Joyce Tannian, who founded WILK, begin each project by identifying villages where there is potential for a tribe to transition to a more permanent community locus and where there is a lack of a dependable, potable water source. I got to see how they follow their mission in the village of Kuku.

A Village Decides:
We drove for about two hours from Oliotokitok for a tribal meeting in Kuku village. After a short while our SUV left the main north-south regional road and we drove east on a dirt road for two hours. Our team was led by Joyce Tannian, the WILK Founder and Director, and her assistant Veronicah who arranged the meeting, and Phillip, the WILK Masai spokesperson. Stephen drove and I discussed with the WILK team about how far along the Kuku villagers were introduced to the water project proposal. We also talked about Veronica’s work for WILK educating farmers on new methods and how to make farms more profitable and sustaining.

We were stopped at a check-point and warned by a soldier that bandits recently killed some tourists further down the road where it approached another national park. Continuing ahead we passed a few farmstead locations before arriving in a small valley with several simply-built farmsteads and farm fields. As we got closer to this area there was a large herd of tended goats that we slowly drove through.

We were a bit late for the planned tribal meeting at Kuku village, which was a spread-out cluster of farmsteads across the valley. Stephen turned off the road and drove alongside a farm-field to where villagers were loosely assembled. We left the SUV and were led with everyone up a path to a hill top. On the crest were two large shade trees, and scrub brush, and large boulders that overlooked a few farms in the valley.

A tribal leader led the about twenty men to the shade of the tree higher on the hillside where mostly sat or stood together. Joyce Tannian and Veronica were the only women allowed with the male group and by custom they followed the tribal men. Philip, Stephen, and I also sat in this group. There were more tribal women, but they mostly sat beneath the nearby tree, close together in the shade and within easy earshot.

Joyce and the WILK Directors are sensitive about how their project work brings change into their village. They want to make sure that villagers understand that a water well is a permanent water supply that ties the Masai to that location. The tribal members must each consider for themselves the benefit of a water well against changes in some nomadic elements of their culture. So, WILK works to create conversations in large group settings and communicate closely with leaders. It seemed to me that WILK staff had already established a good rapport with the tribal leaders and succeeded at conducting it in the tribal custom.

A tribal leader spoke for a while and began the meeting. He was by Philip whose job was to present water-well project plan, explain how it would be done, and to make clear it only would happen if they wanted it. Being a Masai, Philip he spoke easily and colloquially as he stood in the center of the men. Looking back on my take away he basically introduced the notion of a “village water utility,” and did it with panache and good-humor over a couple of hours.

A couple other men spoke while Philip led the discussion. I observed they took turns. If a man was going to say something, he waited for the person speaking to finish, and then either rose and spoke, or moved close to the tree then spoke. I seemed to think there might an unease about how a well works and so I also spoke about this for a few minutes. Looking back, it probably didn’t hurt but Joyce told me most of what I said was lost in translation.

WILK also approaches their water projects in a way so that the local Masai villagers must “buy-in” before any site construction begins. For Mesai to raise capital means they must sell some of their wealth, tantamount to livestock. A majority of the tribal families must agree to sign and take part in owning the water-well. WILK raises nearly all the capital for the projects and the tribal villagers run and maintain them knowing that WILK is their partner and guide.

Late into the hilltop meeting, a very old man next to me turned away the center of attention and made hand-gestures towards the direction of the mid-afternoon sun. Within a few minutes from the direction the man had been gesturing was an approaching sand-storm. It blew suddenly through the valley and across the top of the hill. There were nor reactions other than turning backs to the wind, covering up heads and faces with tribal clothing blankets, and waiting for a quarter hour while the storm passed.

Afterwards a few women left but before the meeting ended the Chief’s wife, a very old woman, approached the edge of the male group and forcefully addressed them. Later I learned that she said how much all the women wanted to have this water-well project and that all their lives would be better. After that another woman made her way through the male group and gifted me with a beaded necklace for my visit to Kuku.

The tribe left the hill. There was no pronouncement or final decision then or soon after, but information was on the way throughout the tribe about the potential for an ample and healthful water supply. WILK had told them about how this modern way would allow them to manage drought and reduce suffering from water-borne diseases. They knew there was a way to minimize the consuming daily chore of finding water for themselves, their livestock, and gardens. Joyce, Phillip, and Veronica all thought the meeting went well.

I learned by late 2017 there were enough families signed up to complete plans for the project.

Water is Life Kenya is a small nonprofit, in the best sense of the word. It is focused on serving a very specific community and does that well. I know the staff and personnel of WILK and they are extremely dedicated to helping the people of Kenya. The executive director receives only a living allowance and no additional salary for her full-time work in Kenya. You can trust this organization to use your money well!