On Thursday we went back out to Isiolo, this time to meet with a local community. When we went to the county two weeks ago, part of our trip was supposed to include a community visit but was cancelled at the last minute due to a pastoralist conflict in the area. This is not uncommon given the importance of cattle to the area and the limited grass to graze as a result of the arid lands. But don't worry, we had Lucky with us again to ensure we were safe!
None of us were thrilled for a 5AM departure and a 5 hour drive each way, but we were all looking forward to meeting the very people that our program aims to help.
This trip was the single best thing I have done in Kenya thus far, words really can't even begin to describe what an amazing and emotional day we had, but of course I will try.
The community we visited is situated around an Anglican Church medical facility just a few kilometers outside Isiolo "city". You leave the "main road" (dirt road) where the country offices are and turn down a bumpier dirtier road where immediately the conditions start to change.
We were hosted by Wilson, the director of the entire facility, Leon, who runs the clinic and James, the only clinical officer for the facility (not a doctor, but what we might call a physicans assistant in the US). This community medical center has 21 employees serving over 1,000 people that walk over 20km to come for treatment of all varieties - malaria (reduced over the years as a result of mosquito nets), pre-natal care, HIV/AIDS, repository infections, malnourishment, etc.
They had arranged a tour of the grounds for us where they proudly showed off the 4 latrines that were recently constructed and the new water tank that catches rain fall. Their old tank stores water that comes from the county from run off, but is extremely salinated and therefore not great for drinking and very harmful in sterilizing and cleaning medical instruments. The new tank, once full, holds 25k liters of clean rain water and can last them 3 months. The problem (among many) is they only receive rain from October to February and the number of people they serve grows daily so this, while a great improvement, is really insufficient. And this water isn't even for daily consumption for the community - that's a separate challenge. It is only used for the running of the clinical facilities, the community members struggle to find adequate water every day. There are other roofs that they could construct a similar rain catching tank, but the mindset is really focused around boreholes.
Over the last 5 years, it has only gotten more difficult to get access to water in Isiolo and they pray for new boreholes and more water every day. And while there are some great charities working to build more boreholes and the community members see a borehole as their salvation, I have learned through this project that without understanding the terrain & ecosystem and establishing a business model to support the water source, a borehole is a temporary solution that won't really benefit the people that need it the most. But they would all be so happy to just have a borehole (and FYI, the boreholes are often very salty water. When we asked about water quality it was abundantly clear that they don't care about the water quality, they just care about getting water. They can't be picky because there isn't even enough bad water, salty being the least of the problems with water quality).
During our visit we had the opportunity to meet with 5 members of the community and hear about their daily lives. Even with a language barrier and the need for translation, I was so amazed at their willingness to open up and share with a group of complete strangers. They were all dressed in their nicest outfits and eager to share their point of view and express their gratitude that we would come meet them and try to help.
Some live in smaller communities where water is delivered by the county, but typically only 2 days a week. The other days they must walk several kilometers to a borehole or river to fetch water. And all throughout the visit I kept reminding myself that this was still near the capital where conditions weren't nearly as bad as deeper into the county where the lands are more arid and water is more scarce and the distances are even further. And you keep reminding yourself how lucky you are, on so many levels.
One woman's livelihood is to wash clothes for people in the community. She walks to a client to wash their clothes only to find out after she gets there that there is no water, therefore there is no work and no money. We were told that the people we met with probably make ~$10/month and water can cost them 30-50% of that.
We spent a while asking the community members what they would do if access to water wasn't a problem. This discussion in particular was really moving because they all spoke so passionately and articulately about how their lives would improve. With more water, their health would improve, they could farm more, there would be more work, the kids could spend more time in school, their quality of life would improve greatly. It would mean the cost of water goes down, because today the costs are so high because the supply is low. Over 71% of the people of Isiolo are below the poverty line, and that could be dramatically improved with more water.
We finished our community visit with some photos and presenting them with some small IBM gifts as a thank you for taking the time to talk to us. They were so thrilled and so grateful for us being there. At one point before we gave them the gifts and the head of the community was thanking us for coming, I was glad we were outside and I had my sunglasses on because I couldn't help but start to cry. They all spoke so sincerely how grateful they were that we took the time to meet with them and that we are trying to help. Just thinking about it again I get emotional.
This trip is what I will remember most when I am back in NYC in my very comfortable life. Every time I turn on a faucet, every sip of delicious NYC tap water I taste, every long hot shower I indulge in, every time I jump into a swimming pool my mind will return to Isiolo.