Kenya, water emergency: here is the project to bring drinking water to the people of Lake Turkana

ROMA – Like every day, in Turkana, a handkerchief of Africa in the North-West of Kenya, just above the equator, the sun that overheats the arid land all day falls beyond the horizon, dying in the warm waters of the immense Lake Turkana. The climate changes underway a bit all over the Planet, here are expressed in a more ferocious way because they add to the chronic difficulties of this land – poor and malnourished – and to the gigantic problems linked to drought and the lack of rainfall.

Never in 40 years has there been such a severe drought. In recent years, the situation has worsened: the persistent lack of rain and the increase in temperatures have made the living conditions of the population even more dramatic. According to the United Nations, in fact, what the Kenyan people are experiencing in this historical phase is the worst drought of the last 40 years, because the heat is torrid, even at night, it gives no respite; the air is heavy, people get sick and it is difficult to survive. And, above all, there is no more water.

Children do not go to school and eat once a day. When Simone Ceciliani – a boy from Bologna, a missionary in Kenya of the Pope John XXIII Communitythe organization founded in the late 1960s by Don Oreste Benzi, and responsible for the reception organization for street children in Nairobi – made the first exploratory trips to the Turkana region, discovered a land rich in tradition, but very poor in everything else. “This is a place – he explained – where children don’t even go to school. And not because they don’t want to, but because they’re hungry: when things go well they eat once a day. There’s little meat, and little fish; crops don’t produce much and everyone has serious vitamin deficiencies due to their diet, which is anything but balanced. But the lack of drinking water is the worst thing: the water from Lake Turkana, in fact, being saline, is not drinkable and cannot even be used for agriculture. People travel for miles to collect it from puddles in dry riverbeds, risking their health because of the contaminated water”.

The salt water lake feels like a punishment. Having a huge lake, Turkana, with salt water seems almost like a punishment for these people, already oppressed by nature. This is why the Communityafter the first trips to those areas, has chosen to take action: thanks to the support of members, volunteers and supporters, and in collaboration with local institutions, it has started a project to dig a well in the village of Altuwo. It also wants to proceed with the construction of a desalination plant in the village of Moite and the arrangement of the existing water system in the village of Gatab to ensure access to drinking water for schools, where the goal is to start vegetable gardens to ensure balanced meals for students who eat lunch in the canteen with the contribution of vegetables. Thanks to the support of the project ““One Meal a Day”the Community has already opened four canteens in three kindergartens and a primary school in the villages of Moite, Anakorot, Ndakaye and Gatab to encourage attendance by the 800 pupils.

The project. It is worth almost half a million euros and, once completed, it will not only guarantee drinking water to the inhabitants of the area, but will also represent an opportunity for employment because there will be a need for someone to take care of its management and maintenance. “We want – said Simone Ceciliani – that these systems do not become yet another cathedral in the desert built in this area. They will, yes, have to be efficient, but we are working to ensure that their maintenance is entrusted to the local population. For this reason – he added – we are organizing training meetings, fundamental moments to involve the community. In fact, the local people will be the true owners of the well, a project that is born and grows with them”.

The work of the Pope John XIII Community in 40 countries. This project is just one of many in which the commitment of the Pope John XXIII Community which is active in over 40 countries around the world and carries out initiatives and projects aimed at eliminating hunger, poverty and social injustice. It is possible to support it even during the event in the square “One Meal a Day”, which will be held on September 21st and 22nd in squares throughout Italy.