Breaking ground on a borehole in Kenya, IsraAID helps communities suffering from climate crisis

The Horn of Africa is facing its worst drought in 40 years. TAMAR KOSKY LAZARUS reports on international aid efforts to help.

In the remote communities of Turkana County, Kenya, people sometimes go for four days without drinking.

Richard Awalan, a community outreach worker with the Israeli humanitarian group IsraAID, says to find water, members of his family must walk miles through thorny vegetation in the boiling sun with their gerry cans to reach a dry riverbed, called a laga. They dig until pools of water begin to form at the bottom – muddy at first, and then hopefully becoming clearer. This can take hours. Once the containers are full, they can begin the hours-long walk home.

The water from the laga is at high risk of contamination from open defecation, livestock watering, and even residue from a nearby gravesite. This is the water they use for all their needs – drinking, bathing, and allowing livestock to drink.

Today, after nearly a year of searching for a location with the right geological conditions, IsraAID will begin drilling on two new boreholes in remote villages with the potential to provide safe drinking water to 8000 people like Richard  Awalan and his family. Solar-driven pumps will draw up the water; IsraAID will train local water committees to manage and maintain the system, and launch a wider campaign to enhance sanitation and hygiene using the water – as part of a long-term, sustainable, and scalable solution.

Since 2013, IsraAID has worked in Kenya, supporting both the refugee and host communities living in and around Kakuma Refugee Camp and Kalobeyei Integrated Settlement in Turkana County. This region of Kenya houses the second-largest concentration of refugees in the country, and it continues to grow with over 1000 new arrivals each week. Refugees come from more than 10 countries, including South Sudan, Ethiopia, Burundi, and Somalia. As the Horn of Africa experiences its fifth consecutive failed rainy season, the drought has driven humanitarian needs skyward.