Jack Le Brun - JOA Volunteer
Amongst the many poignant moments, we’ve been privileged to share with local communities on this project, today provided a real standout moment meeting the Ngui A village and its members. Meeting Bernard, a local who has grown up in this village, was educated in the area, and spent his life working to farm, cultivate, and feed his community. Until a couple of years ago, access to water was scarce. After the rains, the water would soon dry up, making farming incredibly difficult. Determined to find a solution, the community formed a self-help group that visited other sand dam sites. With their collective spirit and vision, they successfully built their own sand dam, creating by far the most picturesque site we have visited that has since even welcomed new wildlife into the area as a result. Bernard explained that in just a few short years, the dam has allowed them to grow far more crops than they could have imagined. From bananas and passion fruit to spinach and an array of medicinal plants, the village is now able to not only feed itself but also produce local medicines to further help. One notable win is that his breakfast now tastes far nicer as they have built four traditional beehives producing honey for the community, that without access to consistent water was not previously possible. The community has also cultivated land to grow grass for livestock and now sells their newfound surplus of this, alongside the fruit and vegetables to surrounding areas. This additional income has enabled them to further invest in their village’s development. Beyond the overwhelming success of the project, it was the people that really left a lasting impact, welcoming us with songs, dances, and a joy that is seldom experienced. Their efforts now support around 3,500 members of surrounding communities, and with their incredible spirit, there is no doubt that they will continue to thrive.
Moses Sappe - JOA Volunteer
Visiting the Ngui community that was assisted by JOA to build a sand dam in 2023, it was incredible to see just how much the water table has risen as a consequence of sand dam’s construction. It has caused the surrounding environment to change immensely, with there being far more vegetation and far greater capacity for agriculture too. When I arrived, I was taken aback at the extent of the agricultural terracing around the river valley, it being full of different crops such as kale, orange trees, and an impressive variety of other vegetables and fruits. This terraced landscape reminded me greatly of Vietnam, a country which as you know receives an incredible amount of rainfall a year, so to see it in a region as arid as southern Kenya was striking and a testament to the opportunity with which a properly built sand dam (and its solar powered pipe system) can provide to a local community.
During this excursion, I talked to a 65 year old man called Kikoyo who had been born in the village and had remained there for a sizable duration of his life, bar when he was working in Nairobi as an electrical technician. He told me of the strenuous effort that his village had previously had to take to access drinkable water, often digging for 2 to 3 hours into the river bed to acquire it. This method was incredibly dangerous as locals would often need to dig up to 5 meters deep, leaving the wells prone to collapse. Also, a 5 meter well obviously isn’t accessible to many within the community, especially to those who are disabled, preventing many from accessing it and placing a greater work burden on those who could.
However, since the JOA visited and helped erect a dam there in 2023, Kikoyo said that himself and his village have consequently been able to sell the crops and seeds generated from the project for a healthy profit. This has led to greater prosperity within the village, as well as hope and happiness, which we were privileged to see on full display when they danced and sang to both greet us as well as bid us farewell. Overall, this visit has had the greatest impact on myself of those I have seen thus far and has given me even more motivation to ensure that our dam for the Mulunga SHG is built to have as transformative an effect.