The Better Water Maker- The Communities We Serve

We are currently using the Better Water Maker with a few different groups of people. Our goal is to help provide it to those who it will impact the most. Schools, hospitals, and youth groups are our biggest groups. The BWM can be powered by a hand crank (much like bicycle pedals for your hands), a car battery, or by electricity. We have to take this information into consideration as we place the pumps and as we help the organizations create plans for their use.

We are currently working with three schools on the use of the BWM. Kimbo School and Ngumo School have had the BWM for a few months. Kimbo School does not have electricity. Most of their classrooms are built from mud and sticks/wood, except for one building that was built by sponsors. The kids here often drink water from the Malewa River, which is close to the school. Kimbo has found ways to have students use the hand crank to pump the water during their breaks. This seems to be working fairly well for them, though we know it does not process enough water for the entire school. They are very grateful for the BWM. 

Kimbo Primary School

Everyone watches while we test the water.

John is using the hand crank to purify water

Love these faces at Kimbo Primary school!

Tires are toys for these kids. They roll them down the hills!

These kids were happy to get containers of water from the Malewa River for our testing.

Click on the following video clip to watch the kids testing the water. Everyone is eager to help!

Ngumo Primary and Secondary School

Ngumo is a larger school, with somewhere near 600 students. They actually have a primary and secondary school in the same location. They also do not have electricity and must use the hand crank for the BWM. They’ve had some more difficulty with its use, as it is difficult to find time within their day for the older kids to pump the water, particularly because it is exam time. They have also experienced situations in which the older students have been taking the purified water from the younger students in the school. We’ve tried to work with Ngumo to create a plan for a club to purify the water, and for the purchase of a car battery to run the BWM. This way, the BWM could be located closer to the younger students, who are at higher risk for dysentery and other diseases from contaminated water. Their students, however, have demonstrated the use of the BWM with ease at this school.

Kids get the camera!

Click on the video below to watch the Ngumo students pumping water with the hand crank.

Mwega Primary School

Mwega School is our newest school to receive the pump. This school is located close to where I live and to the office. The school was previously provided donations by a group in the UK, but apparently, there was some mismanagement at the school and the group withdrew their support. Mwega now has a wonderful new principal and has been very excited to learn about and accept the BWM. In fact, we have already provided two training sessions to the students in their after-school Boy Scouts and Girl Guides clubs. The principal and clubs teacher, as well as their deputy, all stayed for the demonstrations to learn more. After the kids tested the BWM with the hand crank (they hope to have electricity within the year), they all thanked us for the BWM and celebrated. I look forward to seeing the progress of this school with the BWM.

Click on the video below to watch the Mwega students pumping water with the hand crank.

Gilgil Hospital

Gilgil Hospital is the location of another Better Water Maker. At this hospital, a youth group runs the BWM every other day in the hospital and provides purified water to various wards. Can you imagine- a hospital still in need of a means to purify water!?! The group also brings the BWM out into the community to provide clean drinking water to those they can. The group has electricity in the hospital and tries to find places in the community that have it as well.

Karunga Youth Group

Karunga Youth Group is also working with a BWM. This group of young adults gathers regularly to play games and activities, and to provide assistance to the Karunga Health Center. We have met with them several times for demonstrations and planning meetings. The group is purchasing the BWM from us (the small fee for some of these organizations is shown to produce better results, as the group contributes to their mission with funding), and may use it in town to sell clean water, as well as at the health clinic to provide volunteer assistance to the doctors and nurses.

Click on the video below to see the BWM work with a car battery.

Gatundu Youth Group

Gatundu Youth Group has had the BWM for several months. They are in the process of gaining a permit to sell the purified water from a kiosk in town. I have struggled a bit with this group because every time we go to check on the BWM with them, we have to drive around town looking for new people. Their idea for its use is good, and we are working to try to support its implementation. Many people in town could benefit from the use of the BWM in their kiosk.

Gitare Youth Group

We also met with a youth group called Gitare. They don’t have a plan yet, but they work near a large natural dam that people use for drinking water. We hope they may have a plan in the near future for the BWM. The facilitator of the group gave us a tour of the dam and surroundings. They were beautiful, but it was here that I learned of Safari Ants- not a particularly wonderful situation when you have little creatures quickly crawling up the legs of your pants and biting you along the way. Having “ants in your pants” became a reality for me here in Gitare!

The dam in Gitare

I'm inside that classroom giving a presentation!

Utwtu Eco-Tourism Center

Utwtu Eco-Tourism center (mentioned in another blog) is also interested in the BWM, yet we don’t think it can provide the amount of water they need. We’re also working with a group called PureFlow that wants to purchase the BWM to support their other efforts with producing clean water.

Well, I think that sufficiently covers the BWM work!

The Better Water Maker- Water Collection

It’s probably time for me to write about one of the main reasons I am here- clean water and the Better Water Maker. I could cover the topic for quite a while... 

Water here is collected in various ways. In some parts of town in Lengalenga and Gilgil, there is tap water, which is not really drinkable, as it is water that has been taken from any source possible and piped to homes and businesses. This water usually comes from rivers, dams, and roofing systems, and water collection tanks. In the country/bush, like where I am staying, people work to install their own tap systems if they can. The water comes out of the faucet, just as we are used to at home, but it is often brown and is not clean to drink or to use to brush your teeth, etc. I try not to think about the brown water while showering- the reality is that you’re not altogether clean when you finish! I supposed in the end, it doesn’t matter too much, as you are covered in a layer of dust within hours anyways!

People are fortunate if they have water collection tanks. There seem to be two different kinds of tanks- some made out of brick, others made out of dark black plastic. The idea here is that the rainwater will be collected inside them for drinking and cooking. The roofing and drainage systems on top of the houses are also created to drain water into the tanks. Most of the time, the rainwater is not treated; people just drink it. The dark color of the tanks keeps the sun from shining in and helping bacteria to grow. The tanks should be tested for contamination, but I don’t believe this happens too often.

Black plastic water collection tanks

A brick water collection tank

 In the schools, during the dry season, many kids just gather river water to drink. People working out in the fields and those who are close to the river tend to do this too. This, of course, includes animals (remember the large numbers of sheep, goats, and cows I previously mentioned?). I’ve tested the river water and it is full of bacteria and e. coli, but many people here don’t have other options. People who can afford to pay for clean water to be brought in large containers will do so during the dry season.

If able, people will try to treat their water with chlorine, by boiling it, and I’ve also learned of a white rock called alum that some use to help sediment gather at the bottom of a water vessel to clarify the water. We’ve tried to investigate the effects of the alum on the water, even visiting a water treatment plant here, but I can’t say that we’ve found any substantial information. I felt a bit like Erin Brockovich while at the treatment plant, as the man who worked there told us he did not have permission to share their information and ideas with us. He couldn’t tell us the amount of chlorine or alum they used, and wouldn’t let me take pictures- and this is a place supplying a town with water!

I should have taken a before picture too, but the alum helped the dirt settle in this bucket of river water in a test we conducted. Now, we need to learn to create solutions of alum and water that are most safe for drinking water.

Part of my work out here is education in the area of health, hygiene, and sanitation. The kids in the schools seem to know a lot of the information, but putting it into practice is a lot more difficult. The Better Water Maker purifies water, meaning it kills the e. coli and bacteria. Although you can’t see these “germs”, people seem to understand what they are. It does not, however, filter all particles from the water or clarify the water. We also have to teach about contaminating the purified water. A dirty cup, bowl, or bucket will automatically contaminate the water. This is the most difficult concept, not just for people to understand, but for people to follow, as they don’t all have the means to bring clean water vessels for water collection and consumption. We do a lot of teaching and demonstrations on all of these topics. 

Kids at Ngumo School collecting water from the tap (which pulls water from their tank)

The Good Life...

A safari on Saturday and polo practice on Sunday- two different worlds. Today, Christine invited me to the country club with her for lunch and to watch polo. They have a few polo teams in the area and were just having a practice day. We stopped by and watched for a bit. The players were all ages, and the son of the ex-president flew in to practice for a few hours. Following some socializing at the polo club, we went to the Gilgil Country Club for lunch. It’s an interesting country club, as it is all white Kenyan and expatriate members. The members staff the club themselves, each with a day on the calendar to take care of different jobs. While the women prepare meals for approximately 50 people as their duty, the men have to take turns tending the bar. I think the strategy is nice for community building with its members.

Toyota Safari- Hell's Gate and Naivasha

On Saturday, we went to Lake Naivasha and to Hell’s Gate National Park. The park was beautiful, and we drove and walked around for a while. It takes a bit of training of the eye to spot some animals in the dusty brown and green setting, but there was plenty to see and enjoy.  We saw more zebras than I can count, some type of gazelle grazing in the bush, and baboons hiding from us in the trees.

Trying to move closer to the zebras... slowly!

Some odd-looking birds

You could rock-climb on this at the entrance of Hell's Gate

Baboon eating off the tree!

Then, we drove around the Lake Naivasha area. The area is a well-known tourist and holiday spot, and you see one advertisement for a hippo safari after another. We opted out of the expensive boat rides and drove and walked around the lake instead. Sammy, our taxi driver, promised that I would see a giraffe on the trip- handfuls before the end of it- and so we had an animal drive in our little white Toyota. Down and around the dusty dirt and rock roads, looking into the acacia trees for giraffes we went. Flower farms lined the roads (Kenya is developing as a leader in the flower farming industry- I’d love to take a tour!). 

Rows and rows of flower farms.

There were zebra everywhere! I even saw some other Mzungus in the area. I got some closer pictures of the warthogs (I hadn’t come back into contact with them since my first day in Kenya, though there was one on Christine’s front veranda last week), and saw and ostrich roaming around under some trees. 

Ostrich in Naivasha

Ugly warthogs!

And finally, as we were getting a bit tired of driving around, Sammy pulled over and pointed into the bush… Giraffes! Two of them were there, beautiful. I couldn’t get too close to them, but I was able to take a few pictures!