Lake Victoria, the only source of water for the village of Nyaoga, Kenya, is desperately polluted. For years it has been making those who must rely on it ill with various water-borne diseases.

 

Women and children spend 2-8 hours a day getting the poisoned water from the lake. Wells cannot be dug because the water is too sulfuric to be consumed and even bringing the water to the surface would damage the land. Water collection systems for every home would be impractical and more expensive than this project and there is also frequent drought. 

After years of extensive investigation of solutions to this problem it was determined that the most viable solution was to connect to a circle of piping that the government had formerly established and had recently, in 2006, turned over to a private water company system. The circle of piping was in disrepair.

 

With intense advocacy from Give Us Wings, the people of Nyaoga, and water experts here and in Kenya, the government and the water company proceeded to repair the circle of piping.

Phase II of the project was a holding tank of 500 cubic meters to be constructed at the point at which the Nyaoga piping meets the water company’s piping. It was to guarantee a water supply in case of breakages in the system, etc.  This phase was said to be elective, because this holding tank was not deemed to be necessary, by international experts, for the usual functioning of the system.

In the summer of 2007, with the support of many Give Us Wings donors and the hard work of the people of Nyaoga, ground was broken on a network of pipes to bring clean water to the people of Nyaoga.

Since then, the community has laid 3km of pipes that connect to the water company's treated water pipes. They built 13 kiosks at the 13 water points that bring the water closer to the people and at two

 schools.

In summer 2008, water began to flow intermittently.

Phase I has made it possible for 10,000 people along the repaired circle to have water.

However, the water is not currently running to the 15,000 Nyaoga people, as originally planned.

The pipes we have invested in will be damaged by the excess pressure on them from the water company/government system if the holding tank is not put in place to help regulate pressure levels. 

In August of 2008, Give Us Wings clarified with the engineers why the water tank was not put into Phase I of the plan to bring Nyaoga clean water. The water company/government had said that it would complete the entire ring of piping, but stopped the repairs at the point at which we connect up to the system.

Recently an outbreak of cholera has emerged in Nyaoga. This awful infection has already killed at least 10 people in Nyaoga, including Joice Atieno, a pregnant 22-year old mother of 3 who was working hard to finish her education.  Jane Otieno, age 46, a mother, grandmother, church and community leader who was raising her orphaned grandchildren and caring for many in the community. Rose Nyambuga, age 47, leader, pillar of two women’s groups in the community, nursery school teacher, wife, mother.

While immediate funding and expertise advice has been sent to provide supplies to curb the outbreak, Give Us Wings and the people of Nyaoga know that the only true fix is to address the long-term problem and install the holding tank so that the clean water system can be operational.

Costs have accelerated greatly recently because of the political situation in Kenya in early 2008 and the world economy.