A Global Community Comes Together for A Water Point in Samburu

Samburu is known for the beautiful desert-like landscape, big herds of elephants, oryx, Grevy’s zebras and of course the striking Samburu people. Their colourful shukas and beaded collars are an arresting sight in the browns of the desert landscape. Samburu is, like many regions across the world, on the front line of climate change. Rainfall patterns have changed and the people who call this region home, say the rain no longer comes as often or stays as long.

Enter The Samburu Project. Every year, this small organisation works to provide clean-water access to ten communities suffering from extreme drought. This year, one of those communities is Konyek, located in the Westgate conservancy in the heart of Samburu East.

Members of the Konyek community applied to The Samburu Project for water relief in 2020, during the height of the pandemic. A hydrogeological survey was conducted of the surrounding land, and the findings were good. There was water! The community didn’t believe it. Other organisations and even the government had promised them water in the past but no water had ever come. The bad news: The water was very deep and would require twice the funding as a standard handpump. Throughout the pandemic, TSP looked for a donor who would be willing to support such an ambitious project. Finally, early this year, that donor found TSP.

Earlier this year a German tourist travelled to Samburu to fulfil a childhood dream of riding a camel from which this generous citizen of the world experienced first-hand the beauty of the Samburu desert. He also learned about the dramatic effects that climate change is having in this part of the world. Compelled to take action, he pledged his support to the TSP to fund a water project for the people he met there.

With the geological work already complete The Samburu Project was able to quickly set the wheels in motion. Drilling began in June to great fanfare as the locals watched the drill-rig arrive at their village. Over a week, the drillers worked and the rig drilled deeper and deeper into the earth. Finally, the water came spurting out of the ground! There was great joy and celebration, dancing and songs of gratitude. The community immediately started filling their jerry cans with clean water.

Joyce Lenakapa could not believe water would be found in this dry place; ‘clean water is something I have not seen often and now we have it our children will no longer get sick. I can start a business with the new time I have found and my community can focus on starting a school for the young children.’

The well at Konyek is a ‘clear-water’ example of how a global community can come together to have a positive and life-changing effect in the lives of communities against climate change. Businesses, non-profits and private citizens came together to provide the vital resource of water to a rural community in Kenya. You can learn more and see the moment the water came out of the earth in Konyek in The Samburu Project’s video A Water Story on YouTube. https://www.youtube.com/ watch?v=xpE1ek9PE64&t=8s

WaterIsLife.