08308
April 21, 2008

Sand dam brings clean water to climate-stressed Kenyan village

Simple, drought-resistant technology makes herders lives easier

by Jan Dragin
Church World Service 

Students at Korollach Primary School sang and danced at the dedication of the sand dam in Akiriamet, Kenya. Photo by Micah McCoy/CWS

AKIRIAMET, West Pokot, Kenya — Celebrating Earth Day (April 22), cities and villages from Lawrence, KS, 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 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 CWS’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 marked 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 $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, classified as arid and semi-arid land, receives very little annual rainfall. The majority of Pokot tribespeople are semi-nomadic herders, dependent on reliable sources of water and pasture for their animals. Availability of water is the difference between wealth and ruin, life and 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 CWS 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.

The new dam at Akiriamet, Kenya. Photo by Micah McCoy/CWS

Due to 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 communities.

Mary Concepter Obiero, CWS 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.”

CWS supports other sustainable, community-managed clean water and related sanitation solutions 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 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., CWS is urging Congress to commit adequate funding to the Simon Water for the Poor Act.

Editor’s note: The Presbyterian Church (U.S.A.) partners with Church World Service through the Compassion, Peace and Justice ministry area of the General Assembly Council, particularly Presbyterian Disaster Assistance. — Jerry L. Van Marter