No Water – No Teacher
‘Providing people in Africa with clean water will save more lives than any other intervention’
It is early December. It is hot. Miriam Kemkoi is helping her mother tend their vegetable garden in Kapkepot in north western Kenya. Her day comprises collecting water in the morning and helping with the garden in the afternoon. She is 13 years old and should be at school. Two years ago she tested in the top five percentile of Kenyan children her age. She is smart – very smart – but Miriam has not been to school for nearly eighteen months. Miriam wants to go to school – her parents want her to go to school – and there is a school within walking distance of where she lives. The problem is the school is closed because it does not have a qualified teacher.
There is no teacher because there is no water and in Kapkepot – like most places in Kenya and Africa – if there is no water it is almost impossible to attract a qualified teacher. Teachers simply refuse to go to schools or communities which do not have a clean water point – and with good reason. Diarrheal diseases – the biggest killer of children in Africa - are many times more common in places without a clean water point. Other diseases such as trachoma, intestinal worms, meningitis, typhoid, even cholera – to name just a few – also flourish. It is little wonder that teachers do not go to these places – let alone take their families.
Without a clean water point Miriam will never have the chance to reach her potential – along with the other children of Kapkepot she will remain uneducated in a world where education is the key to a better future – and development. Without clean water Mirriam has no future.
————————————————————–
With your help Miriam can have a future. The Kapkepot Community has requested the Africa Water Bank to assist in developing a clean water point. A water point will benefit not only Miriam but the whole community. It will cost just $7,500. The community has raised 15% of this amount. If you are interested in taking up this water challenge contact Meghan Mitchell at the Africa Water Bank.
Meghan Mitchell
778.838.7821
meghanlife@gmail.com
meghanmitchell@africawaterbank.org
