I’m in coastal Kenya with World Vision to help kick-off a program to provide the PUR packets in schools and communities in four of World Vision’s area development programs (ADPs). We’ve had success with World Vision in providing PUR to school children in Malawi and now are expanding that work to Kenya. Of course, we’ve also had success with World Vision in responding to emergencies in Asia and Africa. We’re providing PUR now in Indonesia with World Vision in response to the earthquake. And, we responded to save lives in Zimbabwe during the cholera outbreak. World Vision recently ran an article on their home page to talk about our partnership. To view the World Vision article about the P&G collaboration follow the link to their website, click on “World Vision News” and then “A Partnership to Fight Cholera”. World Vision also shared the attached video to thank P&G for our partnership following my visit to Zimbabwe.(link to video)
Today, I’m about 50 kilometers from Mombasa, Kenya, traveling on a bumpy, dusty, and hot road that leads to Kaloleni. There are lots of coconut trees along the way until we reach a hilly and extremely arid region called Kayafungo.
One of World Vision’s major activities in this area is water. They’ve concentrated on providing water and now want to make sure the water that’s being provided is safe, and therefore the PUR packets. I’m visiting right before the short rains are due to arrive in Kenya. I’m with Bernard Mulei, the zonal manager and Apollo, our driver.
We’re visiting St Michael’s Primary school and I ask to see the water source. The school has a rain catchment system with large cisterns, but this school is so large with 2,000 students that the water tanks are quickly dried when the rains stop. The students and community walk to a near-by dam to collect water.
World Vision has helped create this large dam that usually has water year-round. However, the severe drought has drained the pond completely. Bernard tells me that the lack of water has impacted all of their development efforts since people are spending most of their time searching for water. Some people walk 3 hours to fetch water and others are paying high prices for water trucked from Kaloleni.
We expect there to not be any water in the pond but see that people have dug with their hands down into the mud to reach the water table. An old woman, Mama Juliana Sidi, is scraping the water from the hand-dug wells with a scoop on a long pole. She shuttles from hole to hole to allow the water pits to fill back up with a little water so that she can collect it.
It’s miserable labor sitting out in the sun with no shade around. I look into one of the pits and see that it’s bone dry. A poor desiccated frog lies at the bottom of the pit. Not surprisingly, the water that’s being scrapped out of these holes is very dirty. It will be a good test for PUR and a great introduction to our efforts with the local World Vision team and the community.
I feel sorry for Mama Juliana and I want to treat her dirty water and give it back to her clear and safe. I ask her how old she is and she admits that she doesn’t know. But, she’s old enough to have great grandchildren. She agrees to let us treat her filthy water and we use the PUR packet to quickly turn the muddy water into crystal clear water. I ask her what she thinks and she says: “This news that we have learned today will go far. This dam is now blessed.”
Wow. That was more than I’d expected. I have to admit that I judged a book by its cover and thought this poor woman might not be very articulate. I taste the PUR-treated water first without hesitation but she’s right behind me. So, I ask her how the water tastes – expecting that she might say it tastes good or sweet. But she says, “It tastes like it doesn’t have mud in it”. How hilarious. (link to video)
There’s a small crowd of people that have gathered and so on a hunch I ask Mama Juliana to explain to them how to use PUR. She goes through the steps exactly, but then she really gets going. She starts giving a lecture about the importance of safe water. She’s engaging and entertaining. She explains, completely unprompted by me, that cholera robs your body of water. And, that the treatment for cholera isn’t medicine but it’s to put water back into your body. Exactly. She says that water is life. (link to video).
The World Vision team is blown away by both the performance of PUR and that of Mama Juliana. They ask Mama Juliana where she lives and to be one of their community educators for the distribution of the PUR packets. She’s fantastic and I’m thrilled that we’ve not only introduced this community to PUR but that Mama Juliana will move from scooping water from the bottom of an empty pond to educating people on live-saving healthy habits. I thank her in Swahili “Asante sana” and she tells me that she’s very grateful that we’ve come.
We gather some water from the pits and head back to the school. The smaller children have left for the day so I do a PUR demonstration for the high school and technical college students. One of World Visions’ personnel David Mzungu acts as my translator. David was given this name because his grandfather was the first Kenyan in this region to see a white person or “Mzungu”. I’m used to being called “Mzungu” in Africa so every time someone yells “Mzungu” both David and I answer.
These older children are a tough crowd and pretty much like teenagers anywhere. After doing the first demonstration for them, I ask two of the students to do a second demonstration to make sure they’ve retained the information. It’s hard to keep their attention until the water turns clear and it’s time for a drink. Then they become very engaged. They want to know where they can get PUR and David explains that World Vision is bringing it to them.
We drive to another village and find a deeper pond that still has water. This pond is also a World Vision project and the community is pitching in and helping enlarge the pond. The rule is that you dig two big scoops of dirty for every container of water that you fetch. The pond should get big faster since there’s a constant stream of people collecting water. See water collecting video.
We conduct our next PUR demonstration under the shade of some trees beside the pond. The people tell us that there is a lot of diarrhea and vomiting in this community. When they see the water turn clear they tell us that they need PUR and ask where they can get it. One woman, Mariam Athman, is particularly interested in PUR.
Mariam has two young children and tells me that there is typhoid fever, worms, and sometimes cholera in this area. She’s newly relocated to this region and is particularly worried about the water. She tells us that PUR is really needed in these rural areas. She’s glad that we’ll be working with World Vision to provide it.
We drive south from Kayafungo to Kambe. It’s not as arid and we’re back to areas that have coconut trees and corn fields. We’re visiting Jeuri Primary School. We arrive just as the students are leaving from their closing assembly.
The bell rings and they start to leave towards home. Then the Head Master sees us and starts ringing the bell for the school to reassemble. The moans and groans from the kids are understandable in any language. I hope that it’s worth their interest in delaying their walk home to hear about PUR. I learn that even though PUR has been in Kenya for several years, it’s not yet reached these parts until today. Only few of the 250 students have heard of PUR on the radio, and none have ever seen it.
It’s 5:30 pm and the light has turned from harsh and blinding to mellow and soothing. It’s that special light that happens near sunset and it’s a magical time. We face the students at the bottom of a hill with the setting sun to their backs.
The light is reflected off the school house behind us onto the children’s faces. Perhaps it’s the light but I’m finally able to capture some of the amazement that occurs when people see the transformation of clear water into clean water.
The elders have gathered to hear about the introduction of PUR to the community and their jaws are literally open as the see the residue settle out from the dirty water. This water comes from a dam that’s about half mile away – another World Vision project. It’s as dirty as all the other water that we’ve seen today but turns crystal clear when treated with PUR.
David does the demonstration by himself this time while I stand to the side and enjoy watching him. The children repeat a second demonstration to show that they’ve learned their lesson. They show no signs of being eager to leave and practically mob us when it’s time to drink the purified water.
I hand out some PUR cups and the students hold them up to tell us they want water. We quickly drain 20 liters and then they start on the second batch of water. The Head Master makes a little speech to thank us for bringing PUR and then he rings the bell for the kids to leave a second time.
We say our good-byes. Bernard confesses that he almost didn’t come into the field today since work was piling up and he was going to let some his capable staff lead the visit. But, he says there’s no way he would have believed them without seeing it for himself. He says that World Vision’s goal is transformational development and that what PUR does is truly transformational.
And, I’ve earned a new name from my friends for my water work today. They call me “Tsozungu Kipuru”. This is a bit of alliteration with “Kipuru” and the way they pronounce “PUR” which is “Poor”. In this context, “Tsozungu Kipuru” means an Elder that gives water. I’m quite honored by this name but don’t leave well enough alone and ask for the literal translation. “Tsozungu” means old white person and “Kipuru” means calabash or gourd. A gourd is used to serve water in these parts so is symbolic of giving water. And, well, I guess I’m an old water boy.
What a catchy title! When I saw the title and cover photo, I was very surprised to read that "Mzungu" refered to someone other than the blog author. ;=)
Posted by: Darwin Popenoe | Nov 16, 2009 1:42:53 PM