April 15, 2008

Note: High-resolution photos to accompany this story available for download at: www.churchworldservice.org/media/hires.html

AKIRIAMET, WEST POKOT, KENYA -- Celebrating Earth Day this week (Sat April 22), cities and villages from Lawrence, Kansas,* to Akiriamet, Kenya, are putting the spotlight on the world's water resources.

In the lead-up to the 38th annual Earth Day, the global humanitarian agency Church World Service (CWS) joined with villagers in the remote, semi-arid Kenyan community of Akiriamet last Thursday (April 10) to celebrate the completion of a new, sustainable and community-managed source of fresh water--made possible by the simple but highly effective technology of sand dams.

The water project in the West Pokot District village is supported by Church World Service's Water for Life/Water for Peace initiative and guided by local partner Yang'at, a non-governmental women's organization (NGO) dedicated to the empowerment of Pokot communities. The Akiriamet sand dam is the sixth sub-surface dam that CWS and Yang'at have completed in the region, in addition to a similar project across the border in Uganda.

Sub-surface sand dams are a simple but highly effective technology and water solution for arid or semi-arid areas. As the name suggests, a concrete and masonry dam is built across a seasonal stream and extended under the surface of the bed where it slows the flow of the water and collects sand against the upstream side.

The slow moving water sinks into the sand deposits, acting as a natural filter and reservoir. During the dry season when the water ceases to flow, shallow wells are dug in the sand to draw out the stored water.

A sand dam costs about US $5,000 to construct and, depending on their size and scope, can provide clean water for a thousand or more people, for livestock and gardens.

West Pokot is classified as arid and semi-arid land (ASAL), receiving very low amounts of annual rainfall. The majority of Pokot tribespeople are semi-nomadic pastoralists, dependent on reliable sources of water and pasture for their animals. Availability of water is the difference between wealth and ruin, life or death.

During droughts, the search for water and pasture has historically led to trespassing- and conflicts. The Yang'at-guided sand dam projects in West Pokot hope to prevent those problems by creating a source of good water closer to home.

In Akiriamet last week, the official opening of the sub-surface dam was celebrated only meters away at the Korollach village primary school, where village elders, area chiefs, and school children gathered together with representatives from Yang'at and Church World Service to honor the fruits of partnership.

The celebration, interspersed with offerings of song from school children and community members, focused on how the dam would benefit everyone in the community, not just the herdsman and their animals.

In Pokot culture it is the women and children - especially young girls - who collect water for domestic use, often walking 10 kilometers each way each day during dry times to collect water in jerry cans for use in household chores. The heavy labor of fetching water over long distances has caused many health problems, including miscarriages among pregnant women.

With the time spent collecting water, women are unable to engage in other income generating activities and children have no time to attend school. Nearby reliable sources of clean water can dramatically improve the health, education, and general quality of life for these pastoral communities.

Mary Concepter Obiero, Church World Service East Africa Office Socio Economic Development Programs Coordinator, says, "Soon the area around the new Akiriamet dam will see an explosion of green as the water gives new life to the surrounding community. Children will stay in school, women will fetch water with ease, and men will stay close to home with their cows."

Church World Service supports other sustainable, community-managed clean water and related sanitation solutions in countries including Vietnam, the West Bank, Mozambique, Hunan, China, and Bolivia.

A new CWS Water for Life "Weapons for Water" project in Mozambique, in conjunction with CWS partner the Christian Council of Mozambique, will provide funding and training to construct community-owned and managed wells, sanitation, and related agricultural and water conservation methods.

In the U.S., Church World Service is urging Congress to commit adequate funding to the Simon Water for the Poor Act.

Meanwhile, this Saturday, as the rest of the world celebrates Earth Day, Akiriamet village may find its children accompanying the sounds of clean running water with the song they performed at last week's sand dam ceremony:

"Tunashukuru mradi wa YANG'AT kwa kutuwezesha kaputa maji safi,Tunashukuru viongozi wetu kwa kutuletea maendeleo,Tunayo tunafurahia." [West Pokot dialect]

(We appreciate Yang'at programs, constructing for us water system of clean water, We appreciate our leaders for having brought development, We are happy about it.)

Sources:

Lawrence Journal-World, Lawrence, Kansas, "Earth Day event to be biggest yet"

Overview of Church World Service water management projects worldwide

Church World Service water and sanitation project helping 33,000 people in Northeast Vietnam

Church World Service West Bank water project

Global Water Network, "Water and Health for the Students of Bariela in Mozambique," Church World Service Southern Africa Regional Office and implementing partner: Christian Council of Mozambique

Church World Service and Amity Foundation canal rehabilitation and biogas project in Hunan, China

Church World Service Pilcomayo River and environmental recovery program for indigenous Weenhayek people in Gran Chaco, Bolivia

Media Contact: Lesley Crosson, CWS/New York, 212-870-2676; lcrosson@churchworldservice.org Jan Dragin, 781-925-1526; jdragin@gis.net