Water Project Underway in Kenya

Over 1,100 families will soon have improved access to clean water from the Peku Dam in the water-deprived Peku Village of Kenya.

Feed the World is teaming up with Koins for Kenya to carry out the Thriving With Water project in the Kinango Region: home to Peku villagers and the location of a six month drought. The project was made possible by a donation received from Thriving Nations, the charitable arm of the successful food storage company Thrive Life. Before Ken ya, Thrive Life/Thriving Nations had supported Feed the World’s programs in Ecuador; co-founders Jason Budge and Steve Palmer recently visited project sites in Kenya and now look forward to expanding their support with the expansion of the Peku Dam, a .25-acre fish pond as well as a community demo farm and vegetable garden. The improved dam will significantly increase water access for villagers who now walk several miles to collect water. Currently, only small pockets of water serve the village residents, and in the dry season, disease runs rampant. The water supply is limited, allowing only 330 families to use the existing water resources, but the Peku Dam will grant 780 more families access to clean, reliable water. “We have heard that the governor himself wants to be here for the first shovel of dirt to be moved, if that is any indication of what this dam means to this area,” said Bret Van Leeuwen of Koins for Kenya. “To say the least, everyone is excited about moving forward and we are on schedule to get the dam completed in order to maximize on the upcoming ‘long rains’ over the next two months.”

In addition to the dam, other village improvements will position the area for greater self-sufficiency. The added fish pond will use water from the dam and produce approximately 6,250 fish annually, providing enough protein for 34 adolescents for a year. Increased agricultural production will provide a source of income and nutrition for villagers and include traditional Kenyan crops, such as arrowroot, sweet potatoes, yams, sorghum, cowpeas, millet and cassava.  Land improvements will substantially increase agricultural yields for residents of the area, and seeds gathered from the crops will be used to help those in other Feed the World program locations. Robert Hanson, Vice President of Feed the World, said of the project, “We intend to leverage a minimum of two-and-a-half acres that will provide both food for families, as well as seeds for other families participating in our programs.”

Additional resources have also been provided by local government, AquaCultures without Frontiers, Koins for Kenya, and Sew Much Hope will provide 10 hand-crank sewing machines to villagers. Van Leeuwen said, “The second biggest understatement I could make right now is to say that the people of the area are overwhelmingly ecstatic about the project.” To find out more about donating to the Peku Dam Project and other Feed the World programs, contact Robert Hanson at robert@feedtheworld.org. Lonny Ward Director of Operations/Programs with Feed the World at the site for the Peku Dam