Water Walk Challenge to Build a Well in Kenya
Our friends Joseph and Tabitha Shilalo are originally from Kenya. This campaign was started to help them complete a water well in Joseph’s home village of Namelok, along the southern border of Kenya near Tanzania.
Most the approximately 500 people in Namelok are of the Maasai tribe, nomads who care for small herds of goats and cows. They live in a very remote and arid area where access to water is an every-day challenge. The nearest well is 10 kilometers (about 6 miles) away. However, the most direct paths run through private property and the public roads make it a much longer and far more difficult journey.
Joseph described how his family and other Maasai collect water in containers during the short two-month rainy season of April and May. They then receive little to no rain the rest of the year, and often experience severe drought in which many of their livestock and even children die. The women and children are most seriously affected as responsibility for finding and retrieving water falls almost entirely on them.
The Namelok community has already contracted with a local well drilling company and thanks to the generosity of close friends here in Lancaster County, Pennsylvania, Joseph has been able to pay them $8,000 to dig an initial bore hole at a depth of 200 meters (over 650 feet). That allowed them to test the water and confirm that it is safe to drink.
The next phase will require $5,000 to complete the well and an additional $5,000 to install solar pumps to draw the water to the surface and provide tanks for storage. We also hope to raise an additional $2,500 to invest in tools and materials to maintain the well. So, Joseph and Tabitha are now seeking to secure the remaining $12,500 by September 6, 2021, finish the well by October before the height of the dry season.
Because of this immediate need, we are organizing a “Water Walk Challenge” for Saturday, August 28th. Your family and friends can participate at your own location. All it takes is a small group of 4-10 people who meet up to team carry a 5-gallon bucket of water over the course of just 2 miles to experience just a small taste of what the children and women of Namelok go through each day to collect water for their families in very difficult and dangerous circumstances. In fact, because of their constant search for water, most of the children in Namelok are unable to attend the area primary school which is where the well will be located.
You can take pictures of your team completing the "Water Walk Challenge", post them through your social networks and direct your friends to help drill the well by making a small financial gift.
For slightly more than a penny a day, you can provide fresh water and a healthy future for one of the 500 people of Namelok. In fact, just $20 will provide one person with clean water for at least 5 years. Your contribution of $20, $40, $100, or more will make a life-changing, and possibly life-saving, difference for this rural village.
Thank you for your partnership with us on this significant project!