Over 2000 people from Tana River County have benefited from a joint water Project between Safaricom Foundation, Bible Translation Literacy (BTL) and Hagman-Jennings family.
The Kshs.3.6million project saw the three partners sink a borehole at a local primary school in Morokani village, Bura sub-county to provide access to clean, safe water to the children and the surrounding Ilwana community.
The solar powered borehole is serving the primary school with a population of 300 children and approximately 350 households in Morokani village.
Speaking during the handover ceremony, Safaricom Foundation Chairman Joseph Ogutu said: “Through this successful partnership, we have eliminated the hardship and suffering the Ilwana community has endured over the years in search of water.”
The United Nations has classified Kenya as a water scarce country with 41 percent of the population lacking access to safe drinking water. Another 20 percent lack access to continuous safe water.
“Statistics show us that women and young girls spend on average 25 percent of their day collecting water for their families. We have been able to eliminate this through this project and provided women with time to spend on economic generating activities while girls can now pursue their education in peace,” Ogutu added.
The project has also provided a demonstration garden where the community can train on farming.
Ilwana, formerly known as Malakote, is a small people group numbering about 20,000 people, located in Tana River with their territory beginning 200 kilometers from the coast and extending northwards to Garissa for about 120 kilometers.
The Kenya National Adult Literacy Report says the region has absolute poverty rates of about 55percent. Primary school enrolment rates for boys is 11.2 percent and 6.5 percent for girls. Secondary school enrolment rates are worse at 5.4percent for boys and 2.6percent for girls. About 46.47percent of the population is aged 18 years and below.
So far, the availability of water has helped in the increase of school enrolment and retention rates in the school.