DanChurchAid
Kenya
Drought changes way of life for families
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| Because the severe drought has devastated so many families' herds, Mokinyo and Enoolera of the Nkurruna family have decided to concentrate on supporting their children's education rather than continuing a livelihood that depends on raising livestock. |
Source: By Evans McGowan, ACT International
A chorus of songbirds creates a musical background to lush pastures and thriving acacia trees.
Few would suspect that a recent drought killed so many cattle in the Maasai land of Puko, a community in Central Kajiado District southeast of Nairobi near the Tanzanian border, that the grass has been left ungrazed.
Norkeyio Nkurruna said there has not been a drought this severe since she was a young girl. During the present drought, she lost eight cows, most of which were expecting calves. Her three remaining young cows will hardly be enough to support her six children and numerous grandchildren living in her compound. Her husband, Olesalao, has a total of 20 children with two other wives, and his herd of 306 is now down to a mere 50. He now leaves his pickup truck at the house, unable to afford the fuel for the 13 kilometer trek to town.
It will be many years - perhaps a decade - until the Nkurruna family has rebuilt its herd to even half the size it was before. Yet a son in the family, Mokinyo Dami, fears they will never have its full herd again, with food and school fees for the children to pay. After the drought's devastation, he and his wife, Enoolera, have decided to invest in the education of their children rather than food for their cattle.
11 kilometers to the nearest water source
The whole region has suffered from the drought. The nearest water source from the community is 11 kilometers away, a borehole that was put in only last year but did not work for many months. It takes a full day to take cattle for water, and it takes women three hours to make the one-way journey to collect water for household use.
Boreholes are notorious for not working consistently in this region. The prolonged drought exacerbates the situation, as the high demand for water from boreholes often causes the generators that operate the borehole pumps to break down. During the drought, each herdsman must pay 25 Kshs (US$0.32) per head of cattle to drink from the borehole.
Although some families will probably give up a lifestyle centering around cattle, for others who will maintain a livelihood of raising livestock, solutions must be found. The community has shown initiative, putting together its resources and paying to survey a borehole site. The community has also given young goats that can breed and replenish the families' livestock to families severely affected by the drought.
Involving the community in maintaining boreholes
Sam Mutua, an emergency and development consultant with Church World Service (CWS), a member of the global alliance Action by Churches Together (ACT) International, urged the community to involve its elders in the decision-making process of installing a new borehole. Mutua also told the community that the Evangelical Lutheran Church of Kenya , a CWS partner, would pay for the borehole, but that the community would be responsible for maintaining the water source.
In the process of installing a borehole, exact property lines demarcating land boundaries would be needed, often visibly marked by a fence, to ensure proper security and ownership. As water is a valuable commodity, the answer to the question, "Whose land is it?" can change drastically, depending on whether the water is below or above ground. Mutua also encouraged the community to secure a deed for a large swath of land so that cattle could graze and vegetable gardens could be planted that women could tend.
Two community representatives, Gabriel Olesalao and Joseph Koshoi, agreed to these decisions with the elders' consent and put them in writing, so that all parties could be held to their commitments. The community also recognized the need to train a pump operator as well as users on pump maintenance and some one who would take care of financial management.
The community leaders agreed that land deeds should be signed over to a registered community organization, and membership dues collected on a regular basis to ensure the project's sustainability and growth. Giving the community project a name will give it identity and instill a sense of ownership.
Evans McGowan is working at the Church World Service East Africa Regional Office as a volunteer through the Presbyterian Church (USA) Young Adult Volunteer Program. Both Church World Service and the Presbyterian Church (USA) (Presbyterian Disaster Assistance) are members of ACT International.
DanChurchAid is a member of ACT International - a global alliance of churches and related agencies working to save lives and support communities in emergencies.
