One Village Transformed | Spring Update
You heard about the challenges and harsh conditions families in Olkinyei are facing, and you responded, knowing that together, we can see One Village Transformed. This is the first of many reports we’ll be sending you to tell you how your donations are helping improve lives there.
We spoke this morning with our staff working in Olkinyei. Sakuda, the program director, told us the latest. He tells us that right now they have selected locations for three new wells for the Olkinyei area. What great news, as the water situation there is desperate!
World Concern staff in Kenya has also been working with people in Olkinyei to fix one of the only existing wells in the area. This particular well had a solar powered pump, which was broken. We trained community members to fix the well – and also persuaded the local government to help with maintenance. We’re pleased to report that this non-functioning well is working once again.
Sakuda also tells us that they have been doing health and hygiene training in Olkinyei, which is critically important to prevent the spread of disease.
Please know that you are making this life-changing work possible. Today, I’d like to introduce you to two people who live in Olkinyei, and whose stories demonstrate how vital your help is.
James’ Story: A Desperate Shepherd
James is a village leader and a pastoralist with young children. He spends his days tending his sheep, watching them graze to see which are the healthiest. Surrounded by barrenness, he is unable to farm his land. During the dry season, he has no choice but to sell the healthiest of his animals in order to feed his family.
His children only attend school one or two days a week on average. The environment in Olkinyei is too difficult for most young teachers, and they don’t stay long.
The lack of access to clean water has sickened his children many times. When they get typhoid or other water-borne illnesses, he must hire a motorcycle driver to take his sick child to the nearest health center, which is 10km away. Again, he has to sell one of his few healthy animals to pay for this.
We have much to accomplish, but we are on this journey together. We want you to know that your donation is doing a lot of good! You are helping transform life in Olkinyei for families like James’ by providing:
- Access to clean water
- Consistent education for children, and
- Small business opportunities for villagers
Kijoolu: “I know that God is all able.”
Kijoolu, a mother of six young children, has great faith these changes will improve life in Olkinyei.
“I know that God is all able. He is the one I look up to, and I know at one time, our village is not going to be the same,” she told us.
Kijoolu says the greatest challenge she faces is having to be separated from her two oldest boys who are in second and fifth grade. Since the tiny village school only has room for preschool, her boys must live in another village to attend school.
“What I really want from God is for my children to come back to us,” she said. “It is not our desire that our children go away from us.”
Kijoolu also fears sickness from the contaminated water pan, which is a hand-dug pond intended to provide water for animals. Kijoolu and her family often drink from this water pan, one of the only sources of water. She has had to walk many times to the nearest health center with a sick child on her back.
She does her best to feed her family a balanced diet of beans, corn and potatoes, but during the dry season, with no market nearby, they often go without food. The lines of worry and a hard life show on Kijoolu’s face. Your gift is giving her and others in Olkinyei the strength to keep going and the hope that things will soon be much better.
We’ll be sending you regular updates on how your donations are helping. You can also learn more at www.worldconcern.org/onevillage.
Thank you for responding and giving generously.