Digging our garden. Our friends hanging around.
Since moving into the new village we are working in- I have been given a glimpse of the difficult reality of water for the people in rural Kenya. And as much as our team wants to live like the community- we can not in the area of water. We must bring tap water in many containers of water to our house which is then treated to make sure we do not get sick (we also collect rainwater). But we struggle to have enough to last for a week, rationing the water for drinking, cooking, washing dishes, bathing and cleaning the house. This is sometimes difficult and we often run out. The necessity of water again reinforced.
But THEN I look at the situation of everyone who permantly calls this home- they do not have the luxury of a shipment of clean water but are required to walk quite far to a water source that looks like this-
And for water that looks like this-
And this-
Dam water vs. Tap water
This past week we met with a health care worker in the community to discuss this issue of water and find out the effect on the health of people. Much of the sickness he treats is a result of the water people drink and the lack of sanitation facilities. A water sample was taken recently and tested in a lab and it was found to be so contaminated that the health care worker would only report that the results were "embarrassing." Now I am not an expert in water but I now seen with my own eyes, the level of contamination and how sick it makes people.
This again reinforced the importance of the filter. In my head, ideally it would be great if everyone had access to piped water from a spring but this is not going to happen very soon or maybe at all. While the promise of piped water to rural areas from the politicans continues-(especially during election time) these people continue to hang in the balance. It is especially the children who suffer from taking this water. We have met many children along our way with skin problems and stomachs expanded from worms from the water. So really, the next best option for these people is the filter. Taking the water they already have and making it safe to drink.
If you are interested in helping continue this work of building filters to provide clean water for people, check out the "Turn on the Tap" project on the Samaritan's Purse website. There is a video on this link that explains the filter program more in detail.
If you do decide to support "Turn on the Tap," please send me a message or email so I can thank you. It really makes a difference in the lives of many people.
Peace and Joy to you during this Christmas season.
Teresa :~)
