Laikipia County: A Glimpse Into LifeStraw's Work in Kenya

Written by Daniel Olubero - Area Coordinator, LifeStraw

Having had an almost 10-hour road trip from Western Kenya, LifeStraw's Kenya team arrived at Nanyuki town in Laikipia County, hidden within scrubby arid trees and shrubs, within the expansive Laikipia plateau.

The magnificent Mount Kenya (the second highest peak in Africa) towers over the horizon toward the East, while the rolling Aberdare Ranges stretch far into the western field of view.

In collaboration with Abercrombie & Kent Philanthropy, the team conducted the implementation of 33 LifeStraw Community units in 10 schools within the Ol Pejeta Conservancy area.

The schools lie in a semi-arid area, largely dominated by herds of domesticated herded animals and expansive wild animal conservancies.

The main water source serving these schools is the Uaso Ngiro river (translated loosely as 'Brown River'); however, some schools have improved water sources such as boreholes, wells, and tap water.

Most of the water from these sources is largely brown in color, and most likely infested by worms and other micro-organisms. To the extent that our school visits coincided with Public health officers, who had gone to distribute deworming tablets to students-owing to the heavy contamination they ingest.

At the end of this adventurous exercise, we were able to reach all the 10 remote schools and provided clean and safe water to a total of 3,215 kids. (1,688 boys and 1,527 girls!)