Funded by Jeanette Jenkins, The Samburu Project drilled and installed a shallow well equipped with a handpump in this community.
Narrative
Obtaining water formerly required walking 6 hours - NOW it is less than a minute! The women have time to look after children and livestock, including goats and cattle. There is a nursery school located directly across the riverbed from the well. It was built because of the proximity to clean well water. Water gives women the ability to cook for the children. The community was also able to join efforts in creating a nursery school (note: there is no physical structure).
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Charlie Tso of The Samburu Project
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Implementation Status: completed Fri 03 Aug 2012, Over 12 Years agoThe Falkenberg Family's Visit 2010
Please see the pictures below for the Falkenberg Family's visit to this well in June 2010. (D4W5)
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Lucas Lekwale of The Samburu Project
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Implementation Status: completed Thu 05 Jul 2012, Over 12 Years agoJuly Visit
Routine Visit. Well is in good working condition.
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Stephanie Ng of The Samburu Project
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Implementation Status: completed Wed 16 May 2012, Almost 13 Years agoStephanie Ng's Visit- May 2012
As we pulled up to Lbaa lo Ltepes 2 Well, Lucas revealed that this was one of the wells where all the hardware (pipes, rods, rubbers, hand pump) were removed by another organization called ACTED at the end of last year.
Early in January of this year, Kristen received an alarming report from Lucas and Juma that two of our wells had been meddled with a couple weeks prior. These people, who were not Samburu, came on a Thursday which is the big market day in Samburu East District. Everybody from all the communities go either to town or the livestock market. Now that women no longer have to spend their entire day looking for water, they now have time and energy to go to the market (it takes them two to three hours to travel one way from their homes to the market) and trade their livestock or sell their beadwork in order to earn money to buy food or other necessary items for their family. As a result, there are no adults at the well during midday Thursday. These people came and took all of the hardware and left the well broken and completely unusable. There were a few children nearby that spotted the big blue car and witnessed the incident. When the community found out later that afternoon what had happened, they frantically sent someone to inform Lucas about the dire situation. Juma was in Wamba when they arrived and he came to the community very quickly. They gave a description of the vehicle that had come and taken the parts away. Juma reported the vehicle and after some investigation, Lucas and Juma found out that it belonged to people from the organization called ACTED.
ACTED had recently expanded their operations to Samburu and had been surveying the area. They must have come across several of our wells but when they stopped by this particular well, they found Lbaa lo Ltepes 2 not pumping water at all. At that time, Paul had visited this community a week prior to the breakage to find the well in perfect condition and therefore had no reason to believe that there would be an issue before next month’s visit. Again, it takes a few days for news of a problem to reach Lucas or Paul since these communities do not have cell phones and it takes them at least half a day to come into town and have a meeting. Because of the difficulty in communication, Lucas believes that the well was inoperative for about a week. However, once Paul learnt of the problem, he quickly began mobilizing a team to go out there and fix the issue. Therefore, whereas Lucas and Paul were fully aware of the situation and were working hard to remedy the problem, the ACTED team probably saw a well that had been abandoned and in need of being “rescued”. Unfortunately they did no such thing. The well was left disassembled and inoperable for several months. Moreover as far as I know, ACTED did not communicate with the well community and let them know what their goals were or their timeline for “fixing” this well. Imagine how the communities must have felt to have this precious resource given to them only to be taken away for an indefinite time. Regrettably, ACTED’s actions did not benefit the community- instead it left the community without water and made them distrust outsiders
Lucas worked tirelessly to get to the bottom of this and after a series of meetings with the ACTED personnel was able to get them to return the parts and flush out the well of any contaminates that may have fallen through during those months that the well was left exposed. Before my visit, the well was in working condition again and Lucas had personally visited the sites to see for himself.
We spoke to one of the women leaders who informed us that they have told everyone in the community to not let anyone tamper with this well again. They will not let anyone that is not Samburu do anything to this well. If I had not come with Lucas, they would not have allowed me to change anything about the well and would have kept a very close eye on me.She went on to tell us that the chain link fencing which is at least 6 feet tall and the padlocked gate in front was given to them and installed by ACTED recently as a way to prevent the well from being vandalized again by outsiders. When we arrived at the well, the gate was not locked and there were many Samburu women and their children at the well. Probably as a way in their eyes to remedy the situation, the ACTED team installed a trough for the livestock to drink from which lies outside of the fence. The problem with this trough however is that there is no way for the water to escape the trough. Instead, it becomes a stagnant body of water that can easily become contaminated. As a result, the women have to scoop out the old water in the trough every day before pumping water for their livestock to drink.
Now that the situation is behind us, I truly hope that, for the sake of the community and also for the sake of their standing with the Samburu people, ACTED will write a formal apology to both communities and the district. Though I am glad that the community will not let something like this happen again, it pains me to see their distrust in people outside of their community which came as a result of this unfortunate event.
Ultimately it was not The Samburu Project that was harmed but rather the community. Though the gate and padlock is a nice gesture on behalf of ACTED, what the community needs is for ACTED to admit their wrongdoings, show remorse for making this community suffer for several months, and to ask forgiveness. No matter how big the organization is or how much power it may have, at the end of the day every non-profit organization should be accountable to the people and work to serve them to the best of their ability.
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Heidi Sheppard of The Samburu Project
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Implementation Status: completed Wed 15 Jun 2011, Almost 14 Years agoJune 2011 Update by Paalo Lekuuk
Routine visit:
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Heidi Sheppard of The Samburu Project
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Implementation Status: completed Thu 05 May 2011, Almost 14 Years agoMay 2011 Update by Paalo Lekuuk
Routine visit:
-met the well committee for briefs: water yield is lessening, hence community has to wait longer than before -
Heidi Sheppard of The Samburu Project
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Implementation Status: completed Thu 24 Feb 2011, About 14 Years agoKristen Kosinski's Visit - February 2011
On her visit Kristen met with a variety of community members, including elders, children and the chairwoman of the community's women's group. Below is the information she gathered on this visit:
-The well is not functioning because of a broken rod
-The community planted a bush fence to keep the pumps secure
-The community is raising funds for well repairs -
Heidi Sheppard of The Samburu Project
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Implementation Status: completed Tue 01 Jun 2010, Almost 15 Years agoSarah Ball's and Ashley Cook's Visit - June 2010
Notes from Liepes Well:
-There have been no problems or breakages. Two community members have been trained to fix the well
-Nursery School built nearby because of the well
-Community requests a trough
-The community requests spare parts for the well in case it breaks. In addition, they need tools and piping for irrigation
-They would also like to grow a farm here-
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- Impact Assessment (M&E) Phase Project completed on 15 Apr, 2010 Implementation Phase
- Implementation Phase Project started on 1 Apr, 2010 Preparation Phase
How it Works
Every field note helps building a history of activity at the project site. Every visit should result in a field note, including visits by peers and 3rd parties. Visits can be before implementation, during implementation and during operational state.
If the field note is during the operating phase of the project, then PWX considers the note as a verification note. Verification can show if the current operating state is different from that in the 'final' report and thus draw attention and resources to resolve issues.
Soon PWX AnalytiX will track the number of projects verified and combine that with the amount of time elapsed since 'completion', to summarize monitoring efforts and the sustainability of projects.
Funded by Jeanette Jenkins, The Samburu Project drilled and installed a shallow well equipped with a handpump in this community.
Narrative
Obtaining water formerly required walking 6 hours - NOW it is less than a minute! The women have time to look after children and livestock, including goats and cattle. There is a nursery school located directly across the riverbed from the well. It was built because of the proximity to clean well water. Water gives women the ability to cook for the children. The community was also able to join efforts in creating a nursery school (note: there is no physical structure).
Sustainability
Creating and measuring long-term impact
The community agrees by contract to pay for maintenance costs. Each well committee collects approximately $250 per year for this purpose. In order to ensure well functionality and monitor its use, The Samburu Project spends approximately $160 per year per well. This comes from our general fund, which is maintained by individual donations.
Impact
People Impacted: 1000
People Getting Safe Drinking Water: 1000
The main objective of the project is to provide clean, safe drinking water.
People Getting Sanitation: 1000
Improved sanitation has been an ancillary benefit of community water availability.
People Getting Other Benefits: 1000
The women of the community no longer have to walk for water and now have time for other activities such as looking after children and livestock.
There is a nursery school located directly across the riverbed from the well. It was built because of the close proximity to the well water. Water gives women the ability to cook for their children. The community worked together to create a nursery school. There is no physical structure.
Maintenance/Operating Costs Annual, in US$: $410
Creating and measuring long-term impact
The community agrees by contract to pay for maintenance costs. Each well committee collects approximately $250 per year for this purpose. In order to ensure well functionality and monitor its use, The Samburu Project spends approximately $160 per year per well. This comes from our general fund, which is maintained by individual donations.
Funding
- funded:
- $13,000
- Community:
- $1,850
- Final Cost:
- $14,850