Maasai Water Filter Project - October 2024
Back in March of 2024, I was introduced to David Makallah, an elder in a Maasai village called Oloonkolin in the Mara of Kenya. The village has around 500 families with 10 churches and 12 schools. He shared a great need for clean, safe drinking water for their community. The shortage of firewood means that families only use the wood for cooking and not for boiling water. The extra wood needed to boil water and to keep it boiling is both scarce and expensive. Instead, they collect rainwater; and when the rains stop, they collect their water from the Mara River, which is extremely dirty and filled with deadly bacteria such as Cholera and Typhoid. Their journey to the river is about a 2km walk (1.25 miles) one way. The river water makes many of them, especially the children, very sick.
Enough money was raised for me to purchase 400 Sawyer Point-One Water Filters, 400 taps/spigots, and 30 drill bits and ship them directly to Tenwek Hospital. I spent 2-1/2 days in the village setting up the filters and teaching them how to clean/backwash the filters. It was quite an adventure with a singing and dancing welcoming party on day one.
They were so thankful and filled with joy in receiving the water filters! David Makallah called me an hour after I returned to Tenwek asking when I will be back. This is a project that will continue to spread in that area of the Mara. Thanks to all who supported this program!! It is life-giving!
