In the quest for water, women make hay while the sun shines

The Nation
By Billy Muiruri
October 9, 2009

Women carry jerry cans of water in nothern Kenya, an arid area just like Kibwezi district, where women are digging dams in preparation for harvesting water from El Niño rains expected from this month. Photo/FILE

The elderly woman strikes the hard ground three times before wiping away beads of sweat streaming down her face. For Ms Monicah Kimwele, 60, the task at hand is difficult. It is also traditionally a man’s job, but men in her village are no longer keen on taking on difficult tasks.

With other women from Masamba Village in Makindu, Kibwezi District, Kimwele embarked on a venture that will save them from having to walk long distances to fetch water. They have been digging a dam hoping that when the El Niño rains fall, they will harvest as much water as possible.

Over the years, the women have had to walk for more than 10 kilometres to River Wayona, which is now drying up, to fetch water. But once they complete work at the Kiuane dam, this will be a thing of the past. The dam is 50 by 100 metres, with a depth of 10 metres.

“If it rains well for two hours, the water can sustain us for four months,” says project chairman Richard Musau. Every other activity has come to a standstill as 180 women in the area dig the dam. Kiuane is the 12th such dam in Kibwezi District, with the others in neighbouring locations.

The hand-dug dams will come in handy in an area seemingly bypassed by district water projects. In Makindu location, for example, there is not a single government or Constituency Development Fund dam.

The dams programme is an apt example of a community preparing to solve their water problems, as well as giving women a chance to earn a living.

In a food-for-work model, a set of families digs furrows of 50 feet by 20 feet (about 15m by 6m) and three feet (just under a metre) deep at a cost of Sh10,000. The work done is calculated every week and the women paid in form of food.

At Kilema Village, in Kamboo sub-location, 280 women alternate on the days they dig Kilema dam. They had dug the dam a few years back and when it rained for a whole afternoon, last April, the water they harvested was enough to sustain them to date.

Though only a dry water bed remains of the 100 by 100 metres dam, a well they dug not far from the dam still has water. “The water was silted into the well when the dam was full. We covered it to prevent evaporation,” says Mr Joseph Davuti, the owner of the land where the dam is.

Further afield, at Malembo Village in Ngulu sub-location, more than 260 women show up daily at Siranga Mutei community dam. It is about 15 kilometres from River Athi where they have been drawing water. The dam 20 metres deep and measuring about 150 metres by 100 metres is the largest in the area.

No man is in sight to lend a helping hand. “We are the ones who bear the long distances. So, when we were told we could harvest water here, we fully embraced the idea,” says Ms Kawela Makumi as her son Musyoka Makumi, 13, grabs her mattock to relieve her.

The manual work drains the little energy gained from an unreliable supply of relief food, but we learn the women get the extra drive from the encouragement they get from their area chief, Mrs Florence Ng’ata.

“Rain water is a major solution to our perennial water problems. A lot of it goes to waste. That is why we want every woman to participate in digging the dams,” Mrs Ng’ata says.

She admits that the women seem to have lost the battle to include their men in dam digging. “Local men treat it as a women’s affair. A big number just do not care,” says the chief who shuffles from one dam to another egging the women on.

The communal dams initiative is spearheaded by a volunteer with the Hindu Council of Kenya, Mr Vaghji Kerai.

“I asked the council to allow me work with the locals to tap as much rain water as possible,” says Mr Kerai, also a businessman in Nairobi. Each dam is supervised by a leader, chosen by the people.

“On average, the dams are estimated to cost Sh1 million each. “The government spends a lot of money on machinery, yet the people can do the jobs,” says Mr Kerai who contributes a lot of the funds.

It could only be a matter of weeks before the determined women harvest enough water and save their backs from the weight of filled jerry cans. Talk of making hay while the sun shines!

Article at: http://www.nation.co.ke/News/regional/-/1070/670390/-/7ngpwa/-/index.html

Isn't it a shame that humans have to undertake such an effort to get to precious water which we take for granted every single day in life?

Knowing that 80% of Kenya's tax revenue is used to pay government employees for sure there is no money left for any kind of infrastructure particularly in rural areas. But good to know that machinery is provided.

Pippa:

To me the frustrating part is that the men were not willing to help. I can see the women walking for water carrying their gerry cans to be "women's work". But when it comes to digging, lifting and moving heavy piles of earth for the better of their families, why can't the men get off their butts and help. I know, tribal customs again!!! Some customs need to change!

Jan
Ypu are perfectly right!

In all over Africa it's a common sight: we often watch women do heavy duties in street construction shifting rocks, carry loads etc.

Obviously it's in their culture - men do make babies and herd the cattle and women are responsible for the "rest".

And because it's a patrichy it takes ages to change that tune.

Maybe a couple of more sex strikes would help change men'ws mind and attitude towards women/family duties and agree on more partnership in daily life

Pippa: Agree with you 100%.

With the Maasai in the Amboseli area, it is the women who do all the workof building the houses, caring for the gardens, going for water, cooking, etc. and the kids herd the cattle while the men sit in a circle talking.

I've often said Kenya would be further ahead if the women were running the country. They have had to be far more responsible than the men for years.