Status: In-progress

Report Date: Jul 31, 2008 : 04:23

Published at: Jul 31, 2008 : 04:28

Reported By: Annette Fay

I visited Blue Planet Run's project in Kisii, a crowded town nestled on top of a hilly, green part of the countryside. I met with the Hospital Superintendent Dr. Otomu, the District Water Engineer Mr. Orangi, the Head Nurse Mrs. Monayo, the latter two walked me through the project; I later met with Dr. Mogoa, former Kisi Hospital Superintendent.

Eight months ago, the Kisii District Hospital Water Project became functional – running water in the hospital! The project has been an incredible success, both for the hospital and the community. Part of the project was to construct water points at the Mosasa stream source for the community and a washing bay for women who come to wash their clothes. Because water is stored and directed to the hospital only overnight, the community still uses the source throughout the day; there's even an emerging market near the washing bay now. The water pump has functioned with no problems and is easily delivering the 100,000 litres of water the hospital needs daily. Visiting the water source, one can easily see why this is where people were collecting water for the hospital and why there are always so many people taking advantage of the water available: despite the capture of 100,000 litres overnight plus the all-day use of the community, there are still multiple streams all around – you even have to cross through a deep puddle to get to the water pump and storage tank!

Since the water project was completed eight months ago, the Kisii Hospital has been elevated to a Provincial Hospital. That means it is the referral hospital for the entire Kisii District, whereas before special operations would have been referred to a larger hospital. This is a huge improvement for many patients in the area, who already struggle to get to Kisii from their villages as they won't have to travel any further.

The major roadblocks the project faces at this point are electrification and a piping network. The water pump is currently working on a generator and long-term maintenance will be more effective if it is operating through electricity. Also, water is not supplied to every ward in the hospital, but to the most central wards. In an ideal world, it would be available in every room.

Everyone at the Kisii District Hospital was very grateful for water: telling me how the hospital is better, how people aren't dying like they were before, how happy they are, how it's allowed the hospital to save up for renovations. When people from the community see the former Hospital Superintendent who oversaw the project, they say "you did it!"