Routine Borehole Checks

The effective operation of boreholes is very much dependent on the communities that own the boreholes as they are seen as the very first custodians of these facilities. Co2balance contracts a project partner/officer to be an engagement representative within the community.  Each month our project representative is required to conduct basic checks on each borehole to see if they are in good condition.  They also continue to engage with the community to ensure that they are observing good hygiene practices and using the pumps in a sustainable manner.

Usually water fetched from a properly clean and maintained borehole is safe for human consumption without the need for boiling but if this water fails the safe water chain test, then it can cause lots of illnesses to people. If people fail to use clean containers for their drinking water, they face the threat of getting water borne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, dysentery, typhoid among others.

During the monthly routine visits, apart from checking on the mechanical conditions of the boreholes, our project partners/officers also check that the borehole surroundings are kept clean, no human activities are going on at/around the borehole, no animals are accessing the source, use of clean water collection containers by the community among others. This is to ensure that the community maintains a high level of sanitation and hygiene and that the water collected from the borehole is safe up to the very last drop used in the household.

Here are some photos from this month’s routine visits.

Adekirwai borehole

Alam B

Maintaining clean, safe water remains one of our greatest national and global challenges and responsibilities……… Jerry Costello

6 New Borehole Projects Listed in Eritrea

In Eritrea Co2balance and Vita are expanding in developing borehole rehabilitation offset projects. Adding to existing activities in the Maekel and Anseba District, 6 projects in the Southern District of Debub have just been listed with the Gold Standard. The projects will deliver access to clean drinking water for several dozen villages over a minimum of 7 years.

The local stakeholder meeting was held in Mendefera in May, bringing together 70 representatives of local and regional administration, water departments, WASH Committees and community members.

Responses to the project were overwhelmingly positive, exhibiting a strong desire to get started as soon as possible. The communities engaged in the consultation showed a strong desire for the rehabilitation of their boreholes and a real interest in contributing to ensure long-term maintenance.

“Water is Life”, is a common saying among the stakeholders. Currently, however, access to this valuable resource is limited by inadequate water quality, requiring people to live with the negative health consequences or to boil their water. Using wood fuel is common practice, but deforestation and soil erosion have become significant problems in many areas.

Vita and co2balance will be identifying and start repairing boreholes this month in order to ensure access to clean water as soon as possible and to reduce the need for wood fuel use within the largely rural district.

 

 

 

Energy Conservation King

With new technology comes better ways of life. Human beings and energy are inseparable. How to sustainably utilize the various energy sources is still a 21^st century challenge yet to be properly countered.

Among many rural households wood is the common energy source. It is utilized significantly for rural domestic cooking. In Kasighau division in Voi district this is not an exception. From the ancestors to the current occupants wood fuel as been greatly utilized for domestic cooking. Over the years there as been a rise of population in the division. This as been caused due to immigration in the area in for  people to exploit the different precious stones found within the locality. The rise in population can also be attributed to natural increase in birth rate among the local residents. As a result of increase in population there as been over exploitation of wood fuel. All the house holds initially  utilised the three stone traditional jiko. This stove is wood wasteful. During cooking a lot of wood was normally consumed with the stove. A lot of fire flames were normally lost since the jiko could not concentrate the flames to the cooking pot. This led to women spending a lot of time in cooking and collecting wood. Many are times when the children slept hungry because they could not wait for long hours while the dinner  was being prepared. They could be out won by sleep during the cooking process with the three stone traditional jiko.

Their being a savior in every calamity the donation of fuel efficient Carbon Zero stove (shown in the above picture) to the locals was really timely. The stoves were like an antidote that neutralized the wood crisis which had started to set pace in the area. Now there is all smiles in the face of the women in the locality. With the Carbon Zero stove the women now utilize less time for cooking  since the carbon Zero stove  concentrates the fire flames to the cooking pot and retains heat within it for a long period. The amount of wood also utilized by the stove is far less compared with the traditional three stove jiko. Since they require little wood cooking with the modern Carbon Zero stove the women in the locality utilize significantly less time for collecting it.

Not only is the stove user friendly but it is also environmental friendly. Over the years that the stove as been in utilization the locals have realized an increase in tree cover in the area. Apart from community sensitization on the need for adopting afforestation programmes in the locality this can also be highly attributed to adoption of fuel efficient Carbon Zero stove for all day to day cooking. The area categorized as an ASAL area is now being endowed with a vast trees cover. Thanks to the conservation King, Carbon Zero stove.

Rains which were not common in the past now are occasionally experienced in Kasighau. This has greatly been influenced by an increase in tree cover in the locality making the environment a bit green something that was not there five years ago.

 Compiled by Kenneth Mukuru, Moses Nyaga and Moses Maina

2016 Site Visit

Last month I returned from a site visit to four of our Kenyan cook stove projects; Aberdares, Kisumu, Eldoret and Mathira. During my time I saw Kenya’s beautiful scenery, saw the country’s passion and entrepreneurship and met some fantastic people. During the conversations I had with the beneficiaries of our projects, they expressed how the stoves had made tangible changes to their lives with sentiments that I will remember for many years. Below is a small selection of pictures from my trip:

A woman tends to her stove as she makes chai

From left to right, Richard, Virginia, Shreya, Moses and Lilian, on a cloudy day in Aberdares

Coffee plants grow in the shade of the banana trees

If you are going to paint, why not make it colourful?

Beautiful landscapes surrounded us near Kisumu

We met an inspiring local women’s group building stoves for local communities

A local farmer invited us to see his crops and offered a bag of tree tomatoes as a gift to the team!

Asante sana to all of the Kenya team!