Often, when we hear of Turkana, our minds get carried away thinking of the hottest and driest Lands in Kenya. Since farming doesn’t do well due to water scarcity, the turkana people rely on their animals for milk, meat and blood. Wild fruits are gathered by women from the bushes and cooked for 12 hours hence, the people often trade with the Pokots for maize, beans and vegetables.
Kataboi is a region in Northern Turkana where many of the region’s inhabitants are nomadic herders, who are especially vulnerable to lack of rain. Poor access to safe drinking water has been identified as a major challenge for the community.
Nomadic herders of Turkana with their livestock
On the 26th of June 2020, the W4W’s crew 1 led by their crew manager Kelvin, mobilized to the site just next to Kataboi Primary School. On the dawn of the 27th June 2020, the crew were all set for the borehole drilling works since the only priority was to supply water to the people of the area, who have always been water insecure.
By the 30th of June 2020, the 80 meters borehole was successfully drilled, cased, gravel packed and finally developed which now gives a very high yield of 18,000 litres of water per hour.
Now that the community has this precious commodity, we believe they will put it into good use; for, irrigation, industry and also domestic use. We also believe that it shall end the fighting over resources like water that has been the main source of conflict in many arid areas in the country.
