Testimonies from the Grassroots
Listen to the inspiring stories from the people who now have a smile on their faces thanks to the household rainwater harvesting and storage project.
Investing in clean safe water, is investing in lives.
“Before Tekelbei Foundation stepped in to give me a tank, it was a struggle to get clean water during the drought season as the rivers would dry up. I had to queue with other villagers at the river so I could also fetch the water,” says Edna Sigei from Leldaet village.
With the tanks installed in several homes, it has cut short the number of times people have to go to the river to get water.
“We now don’t have water storage issues as we can catch rain water and during dry seasons we can store river water in the same tank,” says Joseah Koech who also lives in Leldaet.
Through the donation of tanks, life has become simpler and easier and allowed families to be self-sufficient at all times.
“We can now keep water for 2-3 months until the next rainy season,” adds Sharon Langat from Blugam village.
Overall, those who have benefited hope that the foundation will continue to supply even more tanks to more people.
A better outlook for the community.
Families living in Leldaet, Kapkawa, and Blugam share the sentiment that having water tanks in their homestead has improved their way of life.
“Before I had a tank, it was a challenge just to get enough water for me and my family. Now I can say my standard of living has improved and we are able to share water with three other families,” Ronald Kirui from Leldaet.
“My request is that Tekelbei foundation provides us a bigger tank so we can store more water to share with my village mates. I commend Tekelbei for empowering us and if not for them I would not own a tank now,” said John Koech from Leldaet.
This shows that water can act as a bridge between people through the act of sharing. In places where water is scarce, it can be a source of conflict.
We now have more time to focus on other activities
Every day women and children spend 200 million hours fetching and collecting water. This is time that could be spent on income generating activities, domestic chores, and education for children.
Before the tank installation, John Koech, a retired teacher from Leldaet, Bomet County shares it was difficult to go fetch water that was not necessarily clean from the river which was 3 kilometers away. Further, they could only carry 20 liters jerrycans which could end up being 3 trips in a day.
Understandably, from the moment families from Koech’s village started receiving the tanks, there was widespread hope that people would no longer spent tiresome hours collecting inadequate water. For this reason, Koech requests that the Tekelbei Foundation to continue reaching out to especially the elderly in society because of the positive impact.
Sharon Langat, a Blugam resident says,”Before we received the tanks, life was too hard. We went for long distances searching for clean water. We also consumed a lot of time queuing lines to fetch water from the river.” Now life is easier thanks to the tanks allowing her and her neighbors to spend more time at home doing chores, taking care of livestock, and going to the farm.
Sharon’s parting words is for the foundation to keep expanding their support to even more people.
Lawrence Kiprono from Tendonok, reveals that the activity of looking for water was difficult due to the rough terrain. This is especially during the drought seasons but with the tanks it was easier and faster to collect water.
Kiprono is thankful for how the availability of a tank at his home improved his life. He also urges everyone to have the spirit of giving and helping each other.
Naomi Ngeno from Chororoita shares, “I was not very happy during the time when I didn’t have a tank. The process of getting water was too long and there was a lot of congestion just to get water to drink.”
Now she is glad she has clean water and time for other things. The water collected in the tank enables her to use it for everything at home.
We all say a big thank you for this gift.
Ann Langat from Leldaet shares owning a tank has been a great blessing. She doesn’t have to walk long distance to access water from the river.
“My children and I together with my neighbors can drink water from this tank.” Ann adds.
Ann is very thankful to the Tekelbei Foundation for thinking of them and blessing them with a tank.
She concludes by requesting for bigger tank and hopes to meet the benefactor behind the Tekelbei Foundation, Alvin Kibet, just to express her gratitude.
Restoring dignity in the lives of people
Previously Josphat Kirui, found himself and rest of the villagers in Kapkawa scrambling for water from a river located much further from their homes. Now Kirui shares a different story.
“When we acquired the water tank, many of our problems were solved and we could get clean water,” said Kirui.
At the same time, Kirui says through access to clean water, there have been reduced cases of illnesses, improving their health.
Before, they had to boil the river water as it was not viable for human consumption. Having a tank has allowed them to fetch and store clean rainwater without worrying about its safety.
Kirui also sees the initiative as an elevation as his family had to contend with storing water in small containers. He’s now glad that with a tank he can keep water for 6 months to a year without worries.
Further, people can now fetch water any time of the day for their house chores, drinking, and livestock.
According to Mercy Cheruiyot from Leldaet, she had to wake up at 5 am to get water from the river where sometimes they were forced to come back with empty jerrycans. But things changed for the better when the tanks arrived and now, they no longer have to wake up so early and can sleep better.