Kenya is home to 40 million people, nearly half of whom are children. These children have grown up facing escalating water scarcity. Over the past decade, the country’s dry seasons have become increasingly longer and more intense. This leads to crop failures, livestock dying of thirst, and the water collected during the increasingly shorter rainy season being nowhere near enough to last until the next dry spell hits.
At Star of Hope’s school in Jimba village, 326 children attend, and for years, we’ve been struggling to ensure their access to clean water. We built an underground cistern for rainwater, but it’s no help during the dry season. Back in 2009, we drilled a well, but the water turned out to be undrinkable due to high salinity. In 2022, thanks to a donation from a company, we were able to lay a several-kilometer-long water pipeline that provided the children with drinking water when they needed it most.
Unfortunately, desperation in Kenya has reached a level where people aren’t afraid to steal from children. Parts of the school’s water pipeline have been dug up and stolen overnight. Other sections have been cut and redirected to private properties.
Gilbert Ochieng, head of Star of Hope Kenya, is distressed. “We’ve tried to solve this with the authorities and local village leaders, but corruption is too widespread and too deep. We’ve been forced to abandon the pipeline,” he says.
The current dry season will last at least until October. Until then, we need to quench the children’s thirst.
Just 150 US Dollars is enough to fund one truck delivery, which fills the school’s reservoir and provides clean water for all 326 children in Jimba. Nine such deliveries would cover their needs for an entire school year.
Together, we can defeat the drought.
