Normally a barrel of water (200 litres) will cost 10 Kenyan shillings (6 pence) but due to the drought the price has doubled. Here, up to 40% of people who regularly use this water point in Boys Town are now unable to pay for water and some of them travel distances of up to 30km to see if they can negotiate credit, promising to pay once the hard times are over.

As this is a private enterprise there is only so much charity that the management committee can afford to give as revenue is required to keep the water point running.  Luckily due to their good management, maintenance of the engine which pumps the water (now being serviced twice a month as opposed to monthly) and relatively high water table (47 feet) the six staff have managed to keep this water point running, some other water points have not been so lucky which again puts increased demand on scarce resources.  

Approximately 250 donkeys per day are coming to the water point and benefiting from access to the free drinking water at the trough – a lifesaver for these animals.  This is putting extra pressure on resources and the management team are now filling up the trough four to five times per day, instead of the one to two times they would do this when drought is not here. Fingers crossed the rain will come soon, we did have a 30 minute shower yesterday, but we’ll need a lot more if things are to get back to normal.

I’ll be off home soon, back to hot and cold running water etc, but I know that every time I turn on my tap, or think about washing my car or watering my garden I will spare a thought for the people and animals up here and the great work which Practical Action and the Water Users Association are doing to improve the access of donkeys to fresh, clean water.

Read Tania's last blog about Equine Savings Groups.