Wednesday, May 11, 2011

Texting water to Enkito

"Farmers are struggling after one of the hottest and driest months recorded have left entire crops parched and failed".
This is NORTH YORKSHIRE, near Wetherby.
Thousands of miles away in Enkito, Amboseli, SW Kenya, the ground is always parched. When the rains finally do arrive the ground soaks up as much as it can and then surface water washes away most of the remaining fertile topsoil, leaving only rock and sand. But its been like this for hundreds of years. The maasai have learnt to cope - but not to the extent that global warming has now reduced even the glacial cover on Kilimanjaro. Since 2000, the plateau's three remaining ice fields have shrunk by 26 percent. Scientists found that both the Northern and Southern ice fields atop Kilimanjaro have thinned dramatically in recent years, while the smaller Furtwangler Glacier shrank as much as 50 percent between 2000 and 2009. These glaciers feed the only rivers in the area, rivers that are running dry.
This is Ulla. She died recently after 2009's most severe drought yet in the area.
The maasai community of Enkito is one we are personally involved with. Volunteer interaction with the group have found that there is a tap outside the village which works for one day a week, flitering a private supply of water, which must be paid for but it is sporadic, unreliable and spared among many other communities.  The women tend to walk the long distance to the river to ensure adequate water is maintained in the community. Having a well similar to one recently put in at the Mercy Home in Maseno will ease the lives of these women and the community greatly and ensure that their reliance on the river itself does not cause hardship in years to come.
Recently Justgiving has started a FREE TextGiving service and we'd like to ask you to help us bring water to this community, by simply texting ENKI20 £xx (where xx is the amount you wish to give) to 70070; a donation allowing us to sink a borehole well which the community will own and maintain. Full training will be given alongside the communities involvement in drilling.
Anything you can give will help. "Ashi oleng"