Without water, we don't exist.
Currently, there are no sources of potable water within miles of Orkisima Village. What does the community do to survive?
Maasai traditions dictate that while men are out gathering food, it is the woman's job to fetch water. Currently, girls (7 to 18 years old) and adult women have to walk about 9 miles (14.5 Km) to find the nearest source of water, which is not even safe to drink. This distances take up to 3 hours of their day to collect and come back. Aside from the physical labour and strength it takes to carry the water back to the village, girls are missing school more often than boys and have issues in their academic performance due to tiredness from performing this task to help their mothers.
The nearest water source is a lake, which doesn't have potable water. The bacteria formed in these waters causes diseases to the community members, since this is what they use for cooking, cleaning and drinking.
Buying potable water from outside sources is not sustainable. 1L of water can cost up to 1,000Tsh (£0.30p), the average income per family in the village is around Tsh 16,000 (£5) per week. This means that if they buy 2L of water per day, just for essential drinking for a family of 6. (about 1.2cups of water per person) they would be spending TZS 14,000 which equals to 88% of their income just in staying hydrated.
Most families have 12 or more members, and they cannot even afford to think of purchasing water from external stores.
WHAT CAN WE DO TO HELP?
ISOMA Children has made this the number 1 priority. There is no life without water, and therefore no schools or education. This is an urgent need for the entire community at Orkisima.
We have partnered with Wild Spirit Fund to raise funds for bringing the necessary infrastructure to get water to the village.
Several organisations and consulting firms have helped us evaluate the best and most viable options to be able to bring clean water to the village. Although there are many different technologies and ideas out there, given the meteorological and geological conditions of the land at Orkisima Village, the best way to achieve this is by drilling a hole and extracting water through pumps.
These projects are costly but will be an investment to ensure the long term sustainability and success of Orkisima Village.
You can find the full report on groundwater survey for locating a suitable drilling site at Lossimingory village here.
We need more than £10,000 to build a borehole!
WHAT WILL THE FUNDS BE USED FOR?
PHASE 1
The first phase of the project is to find water and build a borehole. We will do this through exploration via a hydrogeological study and drilling a pilot hole. If we find potable water we will build a borehole and move to fundraising for phases 2 and 3.
£10,000
PHASE 2
The next steps after finding water will be to instal solar pumps to be able to bring the underwater from 150+ meters down to ground level. Depending on the quality of the water we will probably need filtering systems as well.
These costs cannot be predicted until we complete the drilling. The costs will depend on the depth of the borehole and the quantity of water found. These costs will are estimated by Chem Chem drilling between £13,000 and £15,000
PHASE 3
In the future, ideally we'd like to be able to put underground piping from the borehole to the school. These costs will depend on the distance from the completed borehole to the planned school, the amount of water that needs to be pumped, the terrain conditions and a few other different factors. Estimates can vary between £8,000 to £30,000. We are counting on our donors and partners to support us with additional funding once we complete phases 1 and 2.
The community, our donors and the team are praying that we find water, we will keep you updated when the drilling is finalised and hope you can keep supporting our project.
PROGRESS UPDATE
Report feasibility and estimated costs of the project
Successful Completion of Borehole
Partnerships with WildSpiritFund and Chem Chem Drilling
Fundraising
Evaluation of best land in the area to extract water
Start of in-situ water well project
Phase 1
HYDROGEOLOGICAL SURVEY
We've completed a hydrogeological survey report to confirm the findings of the initial survey. This new report was done by Chem Chem Drilling, a private Tanzanian company who has more than 10 years experience in building boreholes in the area. We are thrilled that the findings confirm that there is a good possibility of extracting underground water 150m below earth. This is really good news, however no survey can guarantee that we will find potable water. The outcome looks positive but there is a big risk we have to take to continue our mission.
WATER MANAGEMENT COMMITTEE
The team has been on the ground to coordinate a water management committee within Orkisima village.
What does this mean?
With the support of ISOMA Children, the community has established a “Water Management Committee”. The members are 50% men and 50% women from different areas of the village who are committed and will be responsible for taking care of the borehole, manitaining it, fixing it and collecting the fees. If we find water, the priority will be for the children of the planned ISOMA School, however all community members will be able to collect water for a small fee.
Why will the community pay fees? The fees that the community members will pay are not donations for ISOMA Children, these fees will only be used for maintenance and repairs of the system overtime. We have talked to multiple experts who advised that if we want The Water Project to be successful it is essential that the community is involved and members responsible for the system, after all this water well is for their benefit. The members of The Water Management Committee have dictated and agreed to rules and responsibilities.
'Elephants and humans sharing the limited water available'
An article by Fabiola Quesada - Wildlife veterinary fieldwork + training Africa & Co-Founder of Wild Spirit Fund: Wildlife Conservation Medicine Foundation
Photos from the Lossimingory village, the images above show the only water left.
Our village is located in a migration transit area between Serengeti and Tarangire National Parks and Ngorongoro Protected Area in Tanzania. Please notice the elephant and other animals tracks on the mud of where the last drops of water remain.
This is a humanitarian emergency and a direct threat to wildlife. Water competition between humans and wildlife might bring encounters that can be fatal either way. Here is a clear example of the wildlife-human conflict, and how these desperate situations, if not managed correctly, can quickly incentivize poaching (illegal hunting of wild animals).
Situations like this show the urgency of a waterhole in the village.
The installation of a waterhole close to the school has a positive impact on many levels:
✓ Improving human health and nutrition
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Clean water for drinking and cooking
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Piped water for basic sanitation (face washing, toilets)
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Water for the clinic
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First school garden
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Community water for crops
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✓ Mitigation of human-wildlife conflict
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Minimise the risk of encounters with wildlife at the open water hole
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Having the crops in communal areas allow us to establish an efficient system to protect them against elephants and other herbivores.
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We provide water; we help them preserve their food supply; they help us protect the elephants. The community understands the value of collaboration in wildlife conservation.
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✓ Women's empowerment
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Avoid the hard work of women and girls collecting water at a distant point.
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