By Gary H. J. Pluim, Executive Director
This compelling plea rang in our ears long after the words were spoken by Mrs. Koyondo, a respected elderly Maasai woman in Katikati, a rural village located in the grasslands of central Tanzania.
It was a hot Tuesday afternoon. George Yap, our Program Director, and I had traveled a full day, over rough roads from the capital Dar es Salaam, with Saruni, a local Maasai. Saruni obtained post-graduate education in Britain and has returned to his native land to help chart a better future for the Maasai people. Saruni is manager of KINNAPA, an indigenous organization that partners with WaterCan in providing clean water, health and sanitation for rural communities in central Tanzania.
Clean Water facilities in the Maasai settlement of Amei have drastically improved maternal and infant health.
One year ago, WaterCan committed to helping the Maasai people who face huge challenges of poverty and finding water. A water survey indicates that there is water deep underground in close proximity to Katitati. WaterCan and KINNAPA are now working together to ensure that this community, and others like it, obtain access to clean water.
I was impressed by the basic life style of the Maasai people; they work hard and demonstrate an innate determination to survive. As herdsmen, the men and boys travel for long distances with their cattle, for several months of the year, to find green grass and, above all, water.
Saruni and other members of KINNAPA meet with Maasai leaders in Katikati.
The Maasai struggle daily, walking distances of 10 kilometers or more to fetch safe drinking water. To get water, they often go to a nearby muddy watering hole, a pond that is also used for bathing and for cattle to drink. It goes without saying that the Maasai suffer from numerous devastating water-related diseases. Many of their children die before they reach the age of five. The average life expectancy for Tanzanians is 44 years, as compared to Canada's 79 years.
During this trip, we also drove to Amei, another Maasai settlement, approximately 150 kilometers west of Katikati. What we saw there as a result of the provision of water to that community a few years earlier was absolutely amazing. The combination of finding water, providing basic sanitation facilities and hygiene education has resulted in fewer diseases among both children and adults.
The grasslands of Tanzania along the road to Katikati.
The women in Amei no longer have to walk long distances to fetch often-unclean water. The villagers have formed an association to properly manage the use of the water and are fully involved in their health and sanitation programs. They have levied a very small fee for each 20-litre water can. Saving the money, they have been able to purchase a maize grinding machine, powered by a diesel engine, allowed the village inhabitants to come to the centre to have their corn ground into flour.
Next to the water system, the government has built a school with a home for the headmaster. The village children will be attending school for the first time this September.
A clean water source being shared by villagers in Amei.
It is our hope that through the generous support of our donors we can realize similar advances in many other communities.
