To mark World Water Day, today we opened the taps of a brand new “RE-Maji” project, where we rehabilitated existing infrastructure in the Ndiamumo Village, Kitui County in Kenya. In partnership with the County Government and our brand Ambassador Muna al Gurg, the rehabilitated water tower will bring safe water access to the community and will serve the local primary and secondary schools as well via a pipeline extension.
There is nothing better than seeing the smiles of children like the ones pictured above. They live in Ndiamumo Village, Kenya and only yesterday the source of their joy; flowing safe water, did not exist. Their community of roughly 850 people lived with a dry riverbed and a broken handpump, forcing the kids and their mothers to carry the burden of fetching water from distant open sources, which often made them sick. To mark World Water Day, today we opened the taps of this brand new, RE-Maji system, where we rehabilitated existing infrastructure that had fallen into disrepair. This project has also been generously supported by the Kitui County Government. In a bid to ensure ongoing scalable impact, we have signed an MOU with the County Government, solemnizing their support of our mission via an impact-driven public-private partnership.
Smart Sustainable Solution
As a learning organisation, we are getting smarter about how we utilise ou funds to promote true sustainable development over charity in the water sector. RE:Maji is a true testament to that. It entails, whenever possible, the rehabilitation of existing water infrastructure instead of deploying a new solution. The continent is littered with expensive installations that have not been maintained, and with minimal cost can be repaired and improved. We also then equip these newly restored waterpoints with our remote monitoring and e-payment technologies to ensure they become sustainable safe water sources for the community. Depending on which parts of the water point infrastructure we can rehabilitate, RE-Maji allows for significant cost reduction in alleviating water poverty via much lower hardware costs. Thus, it is not only cost-efficient but also environmentally friendly as it allows the re-use of existing materials.
Case in point: We have repaired this defunct water tower and replaced its pump to make safe water a reality for the people of Ndiamumo, washing away their water burden:
That’s not all. Bringing sustainable safe water access to Ndiamumo has seen us replicating our MajiPlus technology and system design featuring a central water tower and small piped distribution network with mini-kiosks in one primary and one secondary school. This is the fourth distribution network we have installed, proving it to be a truly scalable cost-effective solution.
Creating WinS (Water in Schools)
Did you know? One-third of school absenteeism in Kenya is caused due to lack of access to water on school premises. Children either waste school time walking for water, or find it difficult to attend school battling the health issues dirty water breeds. So, we aim to situate 50% of our water access points in Kenya on school premises, making sure children never go thirsty in class again! The Ndiamumo water points have been planned to do just that. A total of over 200 students will receive sustainable access to safe water on school premises. Meaning, no matter where a child is in Ndiamumo, at any given time – home or school or playing with friends - they have access to safe water.
However, safe water benefits go beyond that. Safe water access means that no matter where you are, when you wake up in the morning, your kids can go to school, your doctors can wash their hands and clean medical equipment, you can pursue your dreams, and you can cook and bathe without fear of disease and bacteria. By fostering more partnerships like these we can expedite safe water access for the communities left without it.
Today, as we celebrate world water day with the people of Ndiamumo, we ask that you join us to bring sustainable solutions, and these smiles, to many more communities in Sub-Saharan Africa.