Wells and Economic Development in Samburu Kenya

This collaboration with The Samburu Project, Blue Planet Network, and my partner Rudi Dundas was developed to document the impact of clean drinking water on the lives of the Samburu people located in an arid, remote area of Northern Kenya. The Samburu are a pastoral nomadic tribal community of over 150,000 people where women and children walk up to 12 miles every day in search of often unsanitary water dug from dry river beds or gathered from stagnant pools. The primary initiative is to provide easy access to clean, safe drinking water to the Samburu people.

Since 2005 The Samburu Project has drilled 126 wells bringing safe drinking water to more the 100,000 people. The impact on the region can be seen in the increase in the number of children going to school for the first time, the decrease in the times people get sick from water-borne diseases, the amount of income generated by micro-enterprise or agricultural initiatives, the increase in food security and dietary diversity generated by home and community gardens, the increase in livestock herds, and the smiles on the faces of the 100,000 people we serve. The Samburu Project was founded on the promise of delivering access to clean water. Along the way, they discovered that water does so much more than they imagined. As a result, they have expanded our programming to offer continued support to their well communities in the areas of education, agriculture, women’s empowerment, and health. But, water remains our main focus.

In the arid region of Samburu, Kenya, the main access to water is from dry river beds. (Copy)

Pools of muddy water are dug and manually emptied into jugs that then have to be carried home. (Copy)

This work is mainly done by children and women. (Copy)

River beds in this area are almost exclusively in canyons dug by flash floods. (Copy)

The Samburu starts by convening a meeting of village elders. (Copy)

This sometimes includes officials for the Kenyan government. (Copy)

After the meeting, drilling teams from distant cities identify well sites and get to work. (Copy)

The wells are very deep and take days to bore, patience is often rewarded. (Copy)

In the mean time, the commotion draws a lot of attention for local villagers. (Copy)

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When the drill wits rock it can make quite the dust storms and toss shards of rock several feet from the drill site. (Copy)

Praise from a village elder as the drillers finally reach water. Hopes for access to water are fulfilled. (Copy)

The drillers keep going to make sure they can access as much of the water table as possible. (Copy)

Elder Samburu women, dance and sing prayers. (Copy)

The men sacrifice and roast a goat. (Copy)

Next, The Samburu Project team gets to work installing the well. (Copy)

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The first pumps of water from the well bring even more praise and joy. (Copy)

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After enough water has run through the bore hole it is safe to drink. (Copy)

Everyone gets to work pumping clean, safe drinking water for their homes. (Copy)

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In certain areas there is enough water that, for the first time... (Copy)

the water can be used to raise crops. (Copy)

The farms are run by women and economic development for the village begins. (Copy)