THIS PROJECT WILL DRILL A NEW BOREHOLE AND IMPLEMENT A WELL FOR A MAASAI COMMUNITY OF 1800+ INDIVIDUALS IN AMBOSELI NATIONAL PARK, WHO ARE IN DESPERATE NEED OF CLEAN WATER. THE COST OF THIS PROJECT IS $20,000. PLEASE DONATE TODAY.
THE BENEFICIARY:
Junior’s Village, as TGE fondly refers to it, is a traditional Maasai village in the remote landscape of Amboseli National Park, Kenya. The Maasai are best known for their distinct and colorful garb, and for making their livelihood as cattle herders. Junior’s Village is home to 1800 adults and 800 children. The community that will benefit from this new borehole and water well is comprised of 20 different tribes in an 8km diameter.
SUCCESSFUL HISTORY WITH TGE:
This project was brought to us by one of our board members, Laura, who met Junior and his Maasai village on a safari through Amboseli National Park in the fall of 2019. Laura's visit to the village opened her eyes to the beauty and wonder of this far away community, the warm and welcoming nature of the Masaai people, and the global humanity that unites us all. Via Laura’s introduction, our TGE team of volunteers visited Junior’s village on our March 2022 Trip to Kenya where we were greeted by Junior, the sons of the Chief and other Senior Warriors. Our visit to the village allowed us to distribute another token amount of emergency relief in the form of flour, rice, oil and beads; to play games like Red Light, Green Light 🚦 with the children; and to have an intimate conversation with the tribe leadership about their current situation and goals for the future.
THE PROBLEM:
Upon returning to the U.S. Laura kept in touch with Junior and in time learned that when the COVID-19 pandemic hit in 2020, this Maasai Community was left with next to nothing, since the majority of their income depends on local tourism, which came to an immediate and total halt. Over the last two years, Laura has been supporting Junior and his community with emergency relief funding for food and fuel to operate the borehole pump that brings them water.
The Giving Exchange prioritizes self-sustaining, income-generating projects in partnership with local beneficiaries to create lasting change and opportunity. Junior had originally requested funding to construct a greenhouse that the community could use both to feed themselves and to sell at market for an income. However, it was quickly determined that the current borehole does not even yield enough water to sustain the existing community members and their cattle, let alone produce what would be necessary to water a greenhouse. Therefore, we have pivoted this project to supply the basic human right of access to clean water for the entire community. Once this is achieved, we hope to develop our partnership with the village to implement further income-generating, sustainable projects.
THE SOLUTION:
In 2020 we met with the Director of Well Aware, a nonprofit organization that specializes in bringing clean water solutions to Kenya. Both our teams quickly saw an opportunity to collaborate, as we have very similar values and on-the-ground experience. This relationship has provided additional expertise in the area of borehole drilling but also valuable knowledge in project management best practices.
After the initial hydro-geological survey, both organizations are in agreement that this is a good and important location for a well. The Giving Exchange is happy to be partnering with Well Aware to drill a new well in the community to improve their access to water.
Once the well is operational, the leaders of the village are considering charging a modest monthly fee to the community members to pay for repairs and save for future emergencies as necessary, as well as charging outside visitors from other communities as is common practice in the area.
The cost for the new well is $40,000, which will be split with our good friends at Well Aware. TGE is asking for your help to raise our half of the cost = $20,000.
To supply this beautiful Maasai community of 1800+ individuals with basic human rights of water and food until they are back working again, please donate today.
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