Currently 60% of the deaths that occur in rural Kenyan villages are caused by illnesses related to unsafe water and sanitation. Sadly, the vast majority of deaths occur in children under the age of five (Ministry of Health, Kenya). UNICEF has declared that more than 45% of Kenyans lack access to a safe water source. To combat this overarching health issue, Village Volunteers has received its final funding to build a ceramic water filter manufacturing plant, Kenya Ceramic Products (KCP) in Western Kenya. This plant will bring both an extensive public health and economic development project to fruition.
Using local materials and labor, KCP will manufacture the filters and certify local women as water-health specialists, training each about water borne diseases, the importance of treating water and about the care and maintenance of the filters. Upon certification the women will wear buttons inviting others to ask them about clean water. These specialists will meet with women’s groups, churches and schools to educate their community on the health risks associated with water drawn from lakes, streams, cisterns and shallow bore holes. This approach offers both an economic opportunity for the local women and an effective model for disseminating public health education in a culturally relevant manner.
To make the filters affordable for people with extreme financial limitations in rural villages, there will be a 14 month filter payment plan for the $12 (USD) filters with a small interest rate will be offered on an as-needed basis by the sales force. This will bring the cost of each installment down to a level close to onetime use purification packets. The sales person who collects the monthly payment will earn the interest as commission for the collection duties.
VV is fundraising to provide pre-paid filters for orphan-headed households, schools, clinics and orphan homes. Travel containers have been designed to transport water filters in order to broaden the range of recipients.
For $20, including packaging and transport up to 8 hours away, you can sponsor a water filter that will provide clean water for 6-8 people for 3 years. Visit www.villagevolunteers.org/donate.
VV is thankful to John Hughes and the Woodinville Rotary Club for their longstanding support and the final $15,000 in funding; Professor Martha Groom; Walter Hughes; wonderful Nora and Frances Laughlin and the Village Volunteers Action Club at the University of Washington (Bothell campus); and for volunteer Bill Austin, the VV project manager. Together we set this monumental goal into motion in support of a healthier Kenya.