The UN just came out with a report detailing the number of lives that are lost each year as a result of contaminated water. Coca Cola can be found on every corner of this planet yet people are still struggling to obtain the basic necessities of life. You can read more about this by reading this article in the New York Times. The report serves as a powerful reminder of our responsibility to help provide clean water on a global scale and to be mindful of our own water consumption on a personal level.
As all of our visitor’s witness, the people of Western Kenya lack many of life’s basic necessities. They live with a scarcity of food and clean water. The summer teams of 2010 have heard their call for help and have decided to do something about it. Through Brackenhurst Ministries the summer teams will be putting a new borehole and a drip irrigation system on a new farm at Nasaka Church. This will be the pilot project and the planning of a second site is already underway!
Our previous boreholes serve 500-800 people daily and each area has seen a decrease in water borne diseases. In addition to providing clean water for the community, the borehole will also be utilized to create a cheap, efficient irrigation system. Drip irrigation uses basic piping and tubing to drip water on the exact place where the seeds have been laid. Since water is dripped right on the seed, water won’t be wasted on uncultivated land or lost to evaporation. The water will be controlled by a storage tank and valve, it will only need to be opened a couple of hours each morning. This irrigation system will prevent the crop loss that often occurs under the burning from the Kenyan sun and will allow crops to thrive in the dry season.
Along with new boreholes and farms, the summer teams will also provide gutters and storage tanks to acquire rainwater. Teams will be installing basic gutter systems attached to storage tanks at local church member’s houses. Currently, many households collect water from a nearby stream for cooking and cleaning. As soon as the rain hits the ground it becomes contaminated and unhealthy to consume. By providing simple gutter systems people will be able to use water right from their house without have to collect contaminated water from a nearby stream.
Kim, Lauren, and Eric will be traveling to Western Kenya on April 6th-8th to prepare for the summer projects. Please pray for their journey, meetings, and conversations as they minister to the people of Western Kenya. We are planning to update the blog each day on the trip, so please follow what the Lord is doing! Also, we would love to have you take part in this summer’s water projects by helping provide the necessary funding. You can donate to the water projects via Paypal by clicking on the “Donate” button on the sidebar of this blog. Be sure to designate the funds to “Water and Agriculture”.
The pictures below provide a visual for the type of irrigation system we are planning to implement.
(photo courtesy of www.larsonplumbing.com)
(photo courtesy of www.jains.com)
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