For long, Priscilla Meitiaki, 29 and her neighbor Hellen Parkusaa, 43 have been accustomed to the strains of getting water for domestic use due to the prolonged drought that have been encountered in the Northern Kenya. The two are members of Naserian Self Help Group that hails from Ilmotiok village in Ilmotiok community land, Laikipia North Sub County and Laikipia County.
We talked to the two of them and each one had a story to tell. Priscilla says, "We walk for long distances with our animals to look for water as the women are the customary custodians of fetching water. Sometimes the rivers dry up because of irrigation by people upstream, hence we are left to collect water in stagnant pools. This has over the period increased illnesses caused by the unsafe water; cholera, diarrhea just to mention a few."
Hellen on the other hand adds that, "Sometimes we may not even access water points because we do share them with elephants hence posing a risk to us and in the end, we come home without water. This means that my family will spend the night without eating because there is no water. " She continues that, “Many people have lost lives while searching for water because of the human wildlife conflicts."
“We are a happy community now because we constructed a sand dam and a shallow well a few years ago to solve water challenges. This has reduced water distances for us as the sand dam is located near our homes. Again, we now have clean drinking water for ourselves, and our hygiene and sanitation has improved since the establishment of the sand dam,” Priscilla continues.
They say, "The Nonkinyanchuri Sand dam and shallow well has been a great blessing to us upto date as we are also developing a small Aloe secundiflora farm that will help us in making of soaps which we can sell and earn an income out of it.”
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Laikipia Permaculture Centre May 21, 2025 5:21 am