Ikaatini, Machakos Province, Kenya

Wambui Munyao

Wambui cannot remember how old she is. She does remember that she arrived in Ikaatini during a famine in 1944 and she already had four children. Today, she has five children and 13 grandchildren, two of which live with her and she supports. Though she is one of the oldest in the community, she must still work every day to support herself and her grandchildren. She tries to grow what food she eats and supplements her income by making and selling rope. It takes two days to make a length of rope, which she then sells for 10 shillings, about 13 cents. Wambui no longer has the strength to really support her grandchildren and she worries most about how she will keep them alive.

In Ikaatini, most people are farmers. They grow the vegetables and tend the livestock that is their main source of food. This area has been hit hard by the latest drought, with most people relying on food assistance to survive. Though it has recently begun to rain here, the people have no way to collect the rainwater for future use. Wambui and the other women in the village have to walk one to two miles a day to receive clean, safe water from a water pump in the village center, provided by the Kenyan Red Cross society.

For this village, water is life. What villagers need and want most are irrigation systems and water collection sites that will enable them to save rainwater for future use. With these programs, future droughts will have less impact on their lives and livelihoods.