Posts Tagged ‘Water’
Big News- Water Project: Completed!
The Water Project, also know as Project Kibuki Maji, has officially been completed! Thanks to our dedicated donors, the project has provided campus with:
- Two new water tanks that hold a combined amount of over 340,000 liters (89,000 gallons) of water
- Brand new piping system for the existing water tanks
- Water pumps
The academy hired George, a local contractor, to complete the job and his workers managed to finish in just a few months. The speed of the progress was astounding! You can follow the project’s evolution and see the finished product in the photo album here.
Huge thank you to all those that donated in support of this project! The stabilization of water provides security that we will have enough water to sustain the expanding student body and that, despite any drought, the academy can continue running. Both essential ingredients to the school’s expansion and longevity.
Big, big thank you to our Daraja family for supporting this growing school!
Tags: kenya, Water, water project, water tanks
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Aug 1st, 2010
Project Kibuku Maji
“Water, water everywhere and not a drop to drink.”
Growing up in California, I have always valued water and thought I conserved it… thought.
On the Laikipia Plateau, the home location of Daraja Academy, water is a life or death issue. There are several rivers and creeks that run through the area which originate high on Mt. Kenya and the Aberdare mountain range. However, the area around the school, though bountiful, would never have been mistaken for a rainforest because it is located on the dry-side of Mt. Kenya.
Daraja Academy relies on the Uwaso Nanyuki River to provide water to maintain the campus, shower, water the milk cows, flush toilets, use in the kitchen, mop floors etc. However, due to numerous factors, including global warming, deforestation, and nearby commercial farming, today the amount of water in the rivers and falling from the clouds has dropped to dangerous levels.
Until last year, the Uwaso Nanyuki River had never run dry… on February 2nd, 2009 that changed. The academy went into conservation mode and was ok… for about two weeks. We began to conserve harder and were ok for another two weeks. Finally, we paid a fire truck to bring us 30,000 liters from town.
When the emergency water was close to running out, it rained on Mt. Kenya. The flow from the mountain gave us only a foot of water in the river basin, and we narrowly made it until the rainfall came.
With 26 more students arriving tomorrow and 26 more over the next two years, investing in the water project is vital right now.
Although the water situation is a daunting one, we have long-term sustainable solutions:
1. Supplement the existing water tank: When the river is full it is VERY FULL. We want to dig a 20 foot by 20 foot, 5 foot deep hole at the highest point of campus, next to an existing tank which water is already pumped up to every night. This way, we would have enough river water to see us through the driest drought – without major expense or alteration of existing systems.
2. Digging several reservoirs: When it rains in Kenya, it rains HARD. Topographically, the campus has two hills, one of which is shaped like a bowl. During heavy rains, water pours down these hills and runs away. Literally it rains so hard that only a fraction of the rainwater absorbs into the ground. By digging several reservoirs in strategic places we could collect more water than the school could possibly use in a year. In fact, we would have enough left over to create a trough outside of our fence, so the local herders could water their stock during severe drought.
With your help, Daraja wants to implement sustainable solutions to the water situation as soon as next month. After crunching the numbers and asking local business’ and NGO’s help, we believe that we can create a sustainable water system which would benefit our students, campus and local community for $55,000.
The exciting news is that we have a head start: The Do a Little Foundation has generously offered to lead with a gift of $20,000.
With your help, we can make this happen. It will be a gift for all forthcoming Daraja girls, starting with the ones that arrive tomorrow.
Ways to donate to the water project:
- Go to the Daraja homepage and click on Paypal Link. Make a note that the donation is specifically for water project through paypal or send a note, upon donating, to info@daraja-academy.org
- Send checks to the Daraja office at:
228 Margarita Drive
San Rafael, CA 94901
Memo line: Water Project
- If you live in the Bay Area, we will have a fundraiser March 26th (See postcard in the blog entry below) about the project at:
March 26th 6:00pm- 8:00pm
Portola Valley Town Center
765 Portola Rd Portola Valley, CA 94028
Thank you Daraja family!
Tags: benefit, Water
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Feb 25th, 2010
The Need for WATER at Daraja
Eunice and Mary P. returning from the Daraja Academy borehole.
I hate being away from campus when we have guests. Seeing the campus through their eyes is both thrilling and motivating. Unfortunately, due to extra costs associated with start-up, I was fund raising in the states when “Nancy and Sue” (her friend and fellow educator) visited Daraja Academy.
After returning to Daraja, I heard so many stories about “Sue-and-Nancy”, “Nancy-and-Sue” from the teachers and students that today I think back on their visit like I was here with them. The professional development work that they did with Daraja’s teachers was as valuable as the real friendships they made with the students.
Everything could have stopped their impact would have been great, but Daraja is contagious and Nancy Hanssen clearly caught the bug and has passed it on to at least two of her friends, Karen Collins and Fred Essig, who have yet to visit the school but are working to help it none the less. Several Rotary Clubs in the San Diego area understand need and have volunteered their help, members of Nancy’s husband Jack’s Naval Academy classmates in an afternoon contributed $500
Please read Nancy’s words below and know that nothing is exaggerated. Water is so important to the success of Daraja Academy’s. It affects every part of the school: the meals, the hygiene, the physical campus and the student’s health. A constant source of water would allow us to grow more of our own food – teaching the girls environmentally friendly techniques while GREATLY reducing our weekly food bills.
Once again, it isn’t nice to think of the devastating effect that drought has on a region like ours, but as I’ve said many times, our struggles a real and we a small window into what much of the world is experiencing. With your help we can make a difference.
The Need for Water at Daraja Academy
Nancy Hanssen
Prior to spending two weeks working with the teachers and young women of Daraja, I thought nothing of letting gallons of water spin down the drain while waiting for hot water for my shower. A thirst for water is easily quenched but not if it has to be pumped from a borehole and boiled.
I brought only a few bottles of water with me to Daraja and little did I know that I would use that water not only for drinking but to bathe. The water that flows into the pipes on campus is a trickle of dirty water for a shower. In my small hut I had a flushing toilet and with guilt, in the evenings, I saw the glow from flashlights as the girls made their way to the latrines that were dug to conserve water.
Daraja relies on water from the Ewaso Nanyuki River, rain and run-off. Daraja is a victim of drought, water siphoned off up-stream, and disease.
The need for an education is a dream for these girls. The need for water is a necessity to sustain their dreams.
The major determinate for the expansion of the Daraja Academy is having access to and availability of fresh water. A team of project managers and civil engineers are actively involved in and are donating their time and travel to the process of finding more water for Daraja. The team’s preliminary calculations estimate $25,000 to $30,000 is needed to find a sustainable source of fresh water for Daraja. Your donation will go to the direct costs of this project (permits, licenses, materials and local labor).
Please join our team.
There isn’t much more to say than that, except that Nancy’ team deserves your assistance! The great part is… anybody can get involved. People have helped Daraja in SO MANY WAYS: organizing a goods drive, a remarkable middle school girl in Northern California raised over $2,000 selling baked goods and informing about the cause, another group of driven students at Hogan High raised as much simply by leading a coin drive in the classrooms of the school. Offices have pooled funds to help the girls of Daraja, families have done the same and of course individual’s contributions are always appreciated.
If I have learned one thing since starting Daraja Academy it is that things like this CAN be accomplished. If enough people believe that these deserving young ladies deserve healthy, clean water, then it will happen.
Thank you for caring,
Jason Doherty
Tags: Carr Cavender, Nancy Hanssen, USD, Water
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Jan 12th, 2010
