Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Program: Deep Wells - Kenya

Impact: 500 Served

Project Phase: 
Community Managed
Implementing Partner Monitoring Data Unavailable
Initial Installation: Sep 2010

Project Features


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Community Profile

Changing Lives - One Girl at a Time

"I know we have a girl at our school whose parents live too far away for
her to walk. So, her dad made arrangements for her to live with her uncle,
who lives closer to the school.

Because she is not the daughter of this
uncle, she is treated not so much as family but as a servant.

She
must wake early in the morning and among other chores, must walk a far
distance to get water for everyone.  Only then can she can finally go to
school.

After school is over she must again go fetch water for
her uncle's family, cook, and help with the smaller kids.  She can't
finally start on her schoolwork until around 9:00pm - but of course, there is no
electricity.  She had to ask a teacher at school for money to buy a
small lantern so she can do her homework alone at night. 

This new well at our school will mean she can simply bring water back to her
uncle's straight from school and will save her about two hours of
fetching water every night.  The well at this school has already had a
huge impact.  It is hard for us to imagine.

This is just one of
countless stories of how this water will have a real impact on real
people's lives."

- Jeff Spainhour, Director, Staff of Hope

The full well completion report can be found here: Oloile Well Report

How it Happened

About a year ago, three people stepped up to change lives.  The first two helped fund the actual drilling of this very deep borehole in Southern Kenya.  The cost was high, as was the risk, but they agreed to be a part of this very special water project with us.  Within a year, we had great news to share.  Water!  Lots and lots of it... But, it was very, very deep.  The hand pump they tried to install just couldn't manage the weight.  And that's when one student, and a school helped change another school forever.

A 4th-grader (at the time), Nate Roberts, stepped to line, took a shot at raising funds and helped bring this life giving water to the surface.  Nate raised $14,000 with his school and friends and paid for the deep well pump and water tanks needed to make this system work.  His parents note that he simply came home one day and let them know what he was up to!

Through the process, he's changed the lives of his schoolmates and his community.  And together the supporters of the new well in Oloile have changed the lives of hundreds of students and friends just like them, half a world away.

"I cannot believe we have water at Oloile – Wow" - Schoolmaster, Oloile Secondary School

We're just getting started, check back soon!


Project Photos


Project Type

Abundant water is often right under our feet! Beneath the Earth’s surface, rivers called aquifers flow through layers of sediment and rock, providing a constant supply of safe water. For borehole wells, we drill deep into the earth, allowing us to access this water which is naturally filtered and protected from sources of contamination at the surface level. First, we decide where to drill by surveying the area and determining where aquifers are likely to sit. To reach the underground water, our drill rigs plunge through meters (sometimes even hundreds of meters!) of soil, silt, rock, and more. Once the drill finds water, we build a well platform and attach a hand pump. If all goes as planned, the community is left with a safe, closed water source providing around five gallons of water per minute! Learn more here!


Sponsors


1 individual donors
St. Paul Evangelical Lutheran Church
Nathan B. Roberts