Our Last day in Kenya This Trip

The sun is rising on another beautiful morning in Nairobi ~we can hear the birds singing (along with the baby in the next room) .
There are excited tourists wandering the hotel grounds waiting for their vehicles to arrive to take them through this beautiful country of Kenya to see the incredible wild animals and birds in parks like Amboseli and Tsavo ~and the annual migration of the wildebeest and zebra in the Masai Mara. Meanwhile we are thinking about the villagers of Ndandini walking down the dusty path to the well site with their donkey if they have one to fill their jerry cans from the hand pump of the shallow well that YOU have given them.

We have minutes ago received an update from the well pump test still in progress in Ndandini ~the pumping has been increased to 18 000 litres per hour and has been sustained!
What an amazing and emotional time this has been for us all.

This morning we must finish packing for the long trip home ~after planning the events of the last 2 weeks for so long we can hardly believe that it's time to return to Canada ~but return we must for there is so much to do to get the deep well put into production and additional steps taken to help Ndandini move forward with projects like the drip irrigation and the solar lighting for the primary school.

It is an amazing ride we have all shared this last 2 weeks and we will continue to update this blog for you.
Before we leave Nairobi tonight we plan to visit the David Sheldrick Elephant Orphanage where for as little as 50 dollars a year you can sponsor a baby elephant and gt monthly updates ~the work they do with the baby elephants who are hurt from falling into hand dug holes which people have dug looking for water - or who have lost mothers due to poaching and other issues ~a wonderful foundation who for many years have been doing a great job. Should you make it to Kenya don't miss the daily 11am chance to visit ~such an educational experience and SO enjoyable watching these baby elephants being fed and acting up like babies everwhere.
Jan and Terry

Significant Slogans

ONE VILLAGE AT A TIME
It was September 2007 when we first visited Ndandini "Village". After seeing their dire plight firsthand we knew that without water they would forever be stuck in this barren backwater (so to speak) of society. So we promised to try to bring this small village area water.
In those first early days we thought about all the NGO and other government and charitable organizations which have laboured for many years to bring help to similar villages. We decided to try to create a model framework to utilize as much of all this knowledge and experience as possible. From this our One Village At A Time theme and dream came to life.
This dream encompasses much more than just drilling a well in Ndandini. It sees bringing a better life to the people of Ndandini and hopefully becoming a successful model that can be copied by others to do the same for many other villages "One Village At A Time".

MAKE DREAMS REAL

It was in 2008 that the Sunshine Coast-Sechelt Rotary Club joined with us in this idea. That year the Rotary International organization had a slogan to Make Dreams Real. When that slogan was announced for the upcoming 12 months it was a real personal motivator. We already had a dream for Ndandini - now just make that dream real!

THE FUTURE (of Rotary) IS IN YOUR HANDS

Twelve months later Rotary International comes out with the slogan The Future of Rotary is In Your Hands. Equally true was that the future of many things is "in your hands". Our Ndandini dream - the Rotary matching grant funding challenge - and each of our own lives.

We want to thank each of you for taking the future into your hands and helping.

BUILDING COMMUNITIES - BRIDGING CONTINENTS

For the next 12 months this is the Rotary slogan. They could not have chosen a more appropriate slogan!

Because of the huge amount of water that we all helped discover we do indeed have a fantastic opportunity to build a community in not just Ndandini but also several nearby villages. Our current project supporters and donors come from many continents thanks to the marvels of the internet. Who ever would have thought that "www." could bring us all together?

As we consider the possible ways that we can best leverage all the water that has been bestowed on the Ndandini area I hope that everyone will think about how they can help by Building Communities - Bridging Continents.

There are many exciting potential projects beginning to emerge. They will need champions and supporters to make them real and spread one village at a time.

Terry

Some perspective on water volumes

Here is a bit of perspective to help you relate to the water flow from the Ndandini well.
The Kenyan government has a target basic level of 25 litres of water per person per day. Many live today with much less. One person we spoke with scooping water from the river at Ndandini told us that the 40 litres she had just scooped would serve the 7 people in her family for one day (less than 6 litres/person/day).
If the well produced 10000 litres/hour and the pump ran for 8 hours/day then the 80000 litres pumped could provide 25 litres for each of 3200 people every day.

You have provided a fantastic potential benefit to so many people!
Thanks again for your support and generousity.

Terry and Jan

June 7 Water Flow Testing - amazing success

It's Monday night in Nairobi and we know you are all waiting to find out what is happening with the water from the borehole that has been drilled with your support in Ndandini.
The project plan was optimistically based on (1) finding water in Ndandini and (2) getting a flow of 5000 litres an hour.
The flow test equipment is currently on site in Ndandini (getting the equipment to Ndandini was enough for a comic horror movie that left us waiting at the village for over 2 days). As I write this huge volumes of water are being run into the Tiva river in Ndandini´by the testing pumps ~there has been a sustained flow of nearly 15 000 litres per hour! And it may be even higher. We were looking for water for Ndandini Village (perhaps 800 people). It now looks like we may have found enough water for the much larger community area none of whom currently have water (perhaps upwards of 3000 people).

The water has not yet been analyzed but it appears to be clear and not salty. The water analysis results will be available next week.
The villagers are ecstatic and can really not believe that all of this water is coming from 300 feet beneath their feet.
Today we have met with the water pump and generator suppliers in Nairobi ~David and Shirtliff ~to discuss our original quote for pumping ~the current tentative pump test results ~and the potential changes if at some point this massive flow of water needs to be extended to the entire community ~none of whom have water. But the existing funded (Rotary matching grant project) plan is only for NDANDINI village and does not currently have funds to extend the water to the community at large.

SUCCESS ~we have water and YOU HAVE MADE THIS PROJECT A SUCCESS ~THANK YOU!
To resolve how to get this gift of water to all the other people in the neighbouring area who need it will become the next project which we hope one or more of our partner clubs will champion. For now we are ensuring that we are putting in place the equipment (pump generator and piping) to allow for future expansion and distribution of the water to the community at large without restricting this expansion potential ~ can you help? This is a great opportunity and the water is already confirmed and available. It just needs to be pumped to these poverty stricken dry areas. We have collected some preliminary design and cost estimates for two stages of expansion. We also have the interest and support of the area administrative government officials.
Today we also visited Amiran Kenya to confirm the details and costs to install a greenhouse and drip irrigation system for Ndandini primary school and for a Ndandini community garden ~another succesful project waiting to happen.
Now let's also not forget the opportunity for solar energy in Ndandini ~we met with the solar division of David and Shirtliff to discuss technical feasibility and costs to install solar power for a couple of classrooms with 2 laptop computers in these classrooms. Remember that this is a school with no windows or doors and dirt floors in each class room ~but there is an opportunity to help Ndandini children to move forward.
So are you excited now ~there are so many opportunities in Ndandini ~please take time tonight to feel proud for the part you have played in helping Ndandini to find water. Now we all need to think about how we can each help Ndandini to move forward ~we have the knowlege expertise and money to do this!
Remember - we CAN Build Communities and Bridge Continents "One Village At A Time" starting with Ndandini Village.

Terry and Jan

Eye on Ndandini

It's Sunday morning and we are still waiting for the truck with the well pump test equipment to arrive (to test the output capacity by pumping water for at least 12 hours).
So while we wait ~here are some observations from the last week ~it is one week today since we arrived in Ndandini ~who knew one week ago that both the shallow well and deep well would be productive and that the deep well would be the most productive well that our drilling crew had ever drilled!
The villagers are thrilled and arrive every day starting at 6am to watch what is happening at the well site. They come and go all day long. Many ´if not most´ speak only their Mother tongue which is the Kamba language. Some speak good English and so we can converse and discuss ~we try to use these villagers to talk and interpret for those who cannot speak English.

Many of the school children can speak a little English and some of the older children speak really well ~ however many of them are so shy that they find it very difficult to have a conversation and will look away and giggle in embarassment. Ndandini people are a physically beautiful people with bright wide eyes and teeth. They are very courteous and greet each other and us every time with their 3 way hand shake to let each other know how happy they are to see each other ~and this can be many times every day.

The children go to school Monday through Friday and Saturday morning for those who require extra tutoring but only for those parents who can afford to pay for the extra tuition. The provision of school uniforms and paper and pencils is a burden for these Ndandini villagers all below the poverty level. Andrew the headmaster tells us the average daily income is 45 Kenya shillings about 60 cents Canadian.

Today being Sunday the kids have been here since early morning filling every container they can get their hands on. By the way our empty water bottles are like gold around here ~for the entire week each bottle we empty disappears very quickly.

There is no garbage in the village since almost nothing is purchased other than fruit and vegetables. They do occasionally buy bread but that is a big luxury at 30 K shillings about 40 cents.
I asked the headmaster and sub chief about aids´female circumcision rape and safety (they were very open with me).
There has only been one rape and it was by someone from outside the village visiting a family in the village. We did read in the newspaper last week that incidents of rape in Kenya are increasing and the age of girls and ladies being raped is decreasing .
There is no female circumcision in the Ndandini area who are the Kamba tribe. Apparently there are a couple of tribes within Kenya who do still practise female circumcision as part of their culture.
Aids has a terrible stigma and I was told that usually the family only finds out that a family member is sick ~then when they take that family member to the clinic they may find out that the reason for the illness is Aids. The people I was talking to had a huge number of questions for us ~do we still have Aids in North America ~ can it be cured ~what happens in Canada to someone if they have Aids and they pass this along to someone else.
During our conversations they also were fascinated to find out that in Canada everyone has running water in their homes and almost everyone has a vehicle ~ they came back and reconfirmed this about 4 times . There are only 2 motorbikes in Ndandini ~there are no cars or trucks. There is 1 bus a day (that was a unique experience for us) that passes about 4km from the well site.
One day one of the village elders brought us a live chicken with its' feet tied up to say Thank You. Since we had no plans to be killing chicken and this was such a generous gift ~we said Thanks but he shoulld keep it for his family. The next night an old lady arrived with 10 eggs. She also had with her a young girl ~ maybe late teens. The young girl asked us for a job and told us she was a single Mum and asked did we have a job for her. We told her we weren't hiring anyone ~she was extremely shy and nervous. She then asked do we have a job for her at home! Just to imagine what a huge decision this must have been for her to come and ask us this question is heart wrenching to say the least.
Thats all for now ~our next update coming very soon will be all about the well!
Jan and Terry

Greenhouse Drip Irrigation

Great progress continues to be made on different fronts. I believe I have already mentioned that the deep well apparently has huge output potential (to be confirmed when the well test pump arrives)~we stopped drilling at 90 metres after discussing our options. The drill stems(6 METRES EACH) were removed and the permanent bore hole casings were inserted on Thursday June 3. Now we wait for the pump test rig to arrive ~it should have been here yesterday but we are still waiting for it to leave Nairobi. Yesterday they had a water pump problem with their truck engine and as of Saturday at 2pm this is still in the shop being worked on.
On Friday we hired a taxi to go to the Matuu Girls High School (about 3 hours from Ndandini to discuss their greenhouse drip irrigation project. We took along the Ndandini primary school head master the area sub chief and the parents school ommittee chairman. It was a long but productive day ~the Matuu school has been incredibly succesful in raising and marketing tomatoes in greenhouses using drip irrigation ~ a project sponsored by CDF community development fund. It cost 125 000 K shillings approx 1700 U S dollars for a 8 by 15 metre greenhouse´irrigation piping seeds and training. They started this last November and are doing incredibly well ~already making 6000 K shillings each week. The headmistress was so enthusiastic and offered her assistance if Ndandini wanted to submit a proposal to something similar. As she said ~the secret is water and without it we could not have done this. Since they had their bore hole drilled the incidence of fever and illness for the students has also dropped dramatically due to the clean water.

While we were at the school the taxi had the bushings replaced on the taxi. There is no description that I can give you that comes remotely close to describing how bad the roads into Ndandini are.
The many hours together in the taxi with the area sub chief headmaster and school committee chairman were invaluable for discussing the future of the well project and the importance of the skills of the well management committe going forward.
We arrived back after dark feeling very tired. No one in Ndandini has a vehicle ~so the day was very interesting for our passengers but the long drive exhausted them.
Close to the drill site on our return a long fat pinky red snake crossed the dirt track in front of the taxi ~quite fascinating but I hope this is the only one that we see!
As far as food goes we have not been eating too much it's been too hot and we have been busy.. So we have eaten after dark each night fighting with the buugs who attracted either by our soup or by the light from our flash lights!
On that note I will close for now
Jan and Terry

June 3 2010 WE HAVE WATER

Tuesday June 1 was a holiday here in Kenya celebrating Kenya Self Government Day ~what a great day to start drilling the deep well for Ndandini.

We are thrilled to tell you that Ndandini has water ~lots and lots of it. Our drillers are telling us that they have never seen such a prolific well as what we have drilled at Ndandini today. The pump test will start tomorrow Friday and that should confirm what we have been seeing ~water non stop. The water looks good and is not salty and the water analysis will be completed next week in Nairobi.

I only wish that you could be here to see every smile´ hear every Thank You asante sana and receive every hearty hand shake that we have seen´ heard and received here at the drill site and walking the dirt roads ín the community ~ they are so grateful to you all.

The drilling has had its challenges ~starting with the difficult road in here/ its a very remote area. The water we hit was so exciting but so powerful that it was washing away the drilled hole ~we had to mix and pour concrete around the protective top borehole casing to try to stabilise the sides of the borehole and keep it from collapsing and destroying the borehole. Then we waited 36 hours for this to harden before we could continue drilling.

So today we continued drilling and stopped at 90 metres when we reentered solid rock after having had water in great supply for over 70 metres of drilling.

Tonight it is quiet ~we are sitting under starry African skies listening to the crickets with the occasional donkey and goat talking to each other. The drill stems have been removed´ the casings inserted and all is well in Ndandini.
Our work is just starting in earnest now ~tomorrow we are heading to Matuu town with significant village people to discuss an important drip irrigation project being championed by the Secondary school there.
The Ndandini shallow well has been succesfully drilled and the pump installed this morning. The concrete base and casings were done last night well after dark with headlights from the Landrover and many flashlights lighting the way.
No matter how hard I try I don't believe I can explain how hard everyone has worked to make this so successful this week. Joseph Daniel Bernard and Peter from Naivasha Drilling but it is to Duncan Kamau our Project Manager in Kenya who has weathered all the challenges along side with us.
Terry and Jan

Drilling in Ndandini June 1 2010

Here is a photo taken June 1 as we start to drill the deep borehole.

Jan and Terry

-original message-
Subject: Drilling in Ndandini June 1 2010
From: janumbach@hotmail.com
Date: 06/01/2010 8:27 AM