KENYA

Food Aid Program Provides Water All Year Round in Nguluweni
Text and Photos by Cecil Laguardia

Masumbuko Kenga, 12, plans to work hard and is determined to become a driver. Neema Kasungo, 12 wants to become a teacher. Life has been difficult in Nguluweni village where they live. Food was scarce and water source was quite far, where children have to struggle carrying pails and buckets for their households’ daily use. But a new day has dawned for Nguluweni’s children.

A water pond has been dug by 515 people from six villages through World Vision’s Food-for-Assets Program. For a long time, water supply was a problem in the village. Mothers and children would usually haul them, in large and heavy buckets, from the dirty Nzovuni River seven kilometers away. The water pond has made life far easier and convenient for everyone. Due to its water’s high salinity, borehole pumps are unlikely in the village.

To keep the water clean, the village agreed that the pond will only be used for household needs like drinking, cooking and washing utensils. Nobody is allowed to wash within the pond and must carefully scoop the water to keep it clear. Another pond few kilometers away was dug for animal use. The ponds, boosted by occasional rains, have maintained their supply and have not dried up since. Owing to their success, World Vision has adopted the project into four more villages in other districts.

The government provided support on the program by sending its technical men to identify an area suitable for setting up a pond and designing it for viability. For 12 days every month, a family member worked in the pond and received 40.08kg cereals, 7.2kg pulses (peas or beans) and 2.16kg vegetable oil. The pond was completed in three months time, to the delight of the people who now has the supply much nearer to their households.

Thirty farmers from the village also participated in another Food-for-Assets Program that provided their families with food rations as they trained on new farming technology and established their communal farms.

The training taught them how to do compost fertilizer, establish sunken gardens that could preserve moisture to ensure plant growth and the value of raising vegetables, apart from maize. “Aside from providing food and good nutrition for our children, the farms we have established could provide us with income”, Keith Kahindi Kazungu, 60, the secretary of the committee elected by the farmers.

In a village where an average family has 8-9 children, Kazungu is hopeful the project can help them realize their children’s dreams. This is seconded by teacher Mramba who said having enough food helped in making the children more active in school, thus more participative in their lessons. Mary Sidi Matho, teacher of 95 nursery students, added that with parents having income and producing more food for their families, children have better chance for the future.

The farmers started with an acre of shambas (gardens) as a pilot project planted with maize, cassava, beans, millet and sorghum. Their first harvest, owing to intermittent rain, was just average, with each family getting a share of 2kg maize each. The succeeding ones gradually increased, making them optimistic. Now, moving to a new location that is more accessible to everyone, the group plans to increase the gardens to gain bigger yield.

From its promising garden to the water pond, hope has sprung in Nguluweni village. There is still so much to do, like lobbying new classrooms for their children who do their lessons under a sprawling baobab tree, but they seemed to be willing to do things one step at a time. More importantly, they are willing to work hard for it.