The famed Masai Mara area is well known internationally for stunning landscapes and spectacular wildlife. The region is also home to a number of small, impoverished communities who face numerous challenges, including a lack of clean water and adequate health care. In partnership with Custom Safaris, a tour operator who has been working to improve the lives of people in the Mara region, Project Global Village recently distributed 100 LifeStraws to children in Enkereri Village and 300 LifeStraws to the region's only health centre.Enkereri, a Maa word that means view point, is a village about 20 kilometers outside of the Masai Mara Game Reserve. Enkereri has a population of about 200 people who live in traditional Maasai homes known collectively as a manyatta. Enkereri does not have electricity or running water. Villagers rely on rain water catchments and the Mara River for their drinking water.
Kipas ole Manie, the headman of Enkereri, welcomes us to his village. The manyatta is surrounded by a fence made of thorny acacia tree branches to keep wild animals away from the people and livestock who live there.
Three years ago, Custom Safaris built a nursery school for children ages 2-6 years old living in Enkereri and other villages nearby. Prior to the establishment of this school, young children had to walk several kilometers through bush terrain to attend nursery school. Custom Safaris has also been actively involved in educating Enkereri villagers about the need to clean water before drinking it, and the tour operator leads "humanitarian safaris" through which tourists donate LifeStraws to the community.
On March 4, 2008, UIC brought 100 LifeStraws to Enkereri Nursery School to give to the children and their parents. Village Headman, Kipas ole Manie, explained to the children that they need to use the straws every time they drink water that has not been boiled.
Kristina Dziedzic Wright of UIC and Kipas ole Manie handing out LifeStraws.
A child from Enkereri demonstrates using a LifeStraw.
Enkereri Nursery Schoolers welcome their guests from UIC in this video clip:
1 comments:
Did you also see the 2008 initiative from PUR where they donate clean water to developing countries? I read about this on this site: www.sendasplash.com but you can also access it via www.givepurwater.org/magic
I thought it was interesting.....
Hope this helps...
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