{"id":224541,"date":"2024-03-20T09:42:00","date_gmt":"2024-03-20T13:42:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/?p=224541"},"modified":"2024-03-20T10:33:07","modified_gmt":"2024-03-20T14:33:07","slug":"a-tale-of-two-brothers-water-for-peace","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/2024\/03\/20\/a-tale-of-two-brothers-water-for-peace\/","title":{"rendered":"A Tale of Two Brothers – Water for Peace"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

March 22nd is World Water Day<\/a>, a day to observe the importance of water and the ongoing work to resolve the world\u2019s water crisis. This year\u2019s theme is Water for Peace, which resonates with us at The Water Project. After all, we see how water fosters peace in our work every day \u2014 and how a lack of water brings conflict<\/a>.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

One story that came to our minds as soon as we saw this year\u2019s World Water Day theme was the tale of two brothers living in Sambuli Community<\/a> in Western Kenya.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

To relay this tale, we invited Jacklyne Chelagat, who worked with the community throughout their protected spring\u2019s construction and implementation, to tell us the story of brothers Patrick and Baraza.<\/p>\n\n\n

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Patrick (in the white and blue striped shirt, second from left) and Barasa (in the red shirt, second from right) stand with other members of their community’s water user committee on the day of our hygiene and sanitation training.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cLand is the most valued possession among Africans, and it is a birthright for each child (especially boys) to inherit a parcel of land from the parents,\u201d Jacklyne explained. \u201cOut of this practice springs a lot of enmity and grudges between members of the same family. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA dispute over land came up between Patrick and his brother Baraza after their father died and he had not shared his land among his sons. [A] bitter rivalry erupted between them after each one felt the land was not fairly divided among them by their foster parents and community leadership. The enmity between them was so bad that whenever a chicken or an animal would cross from one man\u2019s homestead to the other, he would even kill it. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince the spring was exactly in between their farms, each one of them felt that he was the one to make the decision whether the spring would be protected or not, and each one was determined to make a decision against the other. This made the whole process so difficult and complicated. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cSince many households were fetching water from that spring, they sought to engage the intervention of the local leadership, led by the area Member of the County Assembly to address the issue. A decision was reached that the spring was to be protected. Luckily, both Patrick and Baraza were in that meeting. During planning, I engaged each one of them [about] the roles they were to play in the implementation process. On a number of occasions, I would bring them together to discuss the progress we were making. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cGradually, the heaviness in their hearts started melting down. As the project implementation progressed, so did the peace [creep] in. [The brothers] started talking to one another, and they would even come together and team up with the rest [of the community] during the implementation process.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBy the time the construction was being completed, they were so much together that they would even visit one another in their homes. As a matter of fact, during [the] training, which was conducted in Patrick Wanami\u2019s homestead, Baraza was present and was actively involved. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201c[The] members of Sambuli community were left wondering how water had played an important part in bringing [these] two brothers together; where all efforts had not succeeded. Water and clean water for that matter, is able to clean any form of stain, including enmity and hatred.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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