On a sunny Wednesday morning Simion Arap Kigen sits outside his home in the rural village of Burgei. His house is unique for a number of reasons, not least because it has running water. Modest by western standards but grand for east Africa, the bungalow has benefitted from the expansion of the Burgei Water Project (BWP), an indigenous company that pumps and distributes clean water from a nearby borehole.
The existence of the borehole, and thus BWP, is closely linked with the history of the house, of which the weathered façade - like that of its owner - speaks of a faded grandeur. Shrouded by eucalyptus trees, it is the former pile of a white settler who moved to Kenya shortly after the Second World War.
Less than two decade later Kenya achieved independence from Britain, and the settler, apparently a Czech national whose name no-one seems to recall, was one of many whites who decided to up sticks and return home. So in 1972 he entered into sale negotiations with a large group of local farmers of which Simion was nominated the director. A price for the land was soon hammered out: each member of the syndicate would pay KSh3,000 for a 10 acre plot. To avoid in-fighting over premium areas, the plots were drawn on a lottery basis.
Fortunately for Simion, the ballot he drew happened to include the Czech's substantial home; a cynic might comment that, as director of the transaction, he was favourably disposed to such a stroke of luck. The house brought a number of advantages, one being its attractive hardwood floor, a rare affectation in Africa and an immediate signifier of wealth. More important, however, was the borehole, dug in the 1950s to provide the home with a source of clean drinking water.
In addition to the water it also provided Simion, in a roundabout way, with electricity. According to Wilfred Mutai, chairman of BWP, when the government was rolling out the rural electrification scheme it targeted boreholes as well as schools and health centres. Given the proximity of the house to the well it was relatively simple to hook it up to the grid when the electricity arrived.
The borehole remained operational and in use by the locals until the 1980s when the ageing engine used to power its pump eventually gave in. This effectively put it out of action and meant for the next two decades the only source of water was the squalid Molo River. Then, in 2010, BWP, which had been set up earlier that year, convinced the local Constituency Development Fund to provide it with the money to install a new electric engine and thus resurrect the well.
Later Self Help Africa would see the merit in the enterprise and assist the young company by building a second storage tank and donating piping. Whereas before gravity dictated that the water could only be piped downhill, the new tank, perched atop a metal tower, would enable water to be sent in any direction. As such three schools and a health centre now enjoy water on tap and BWP is also able to pipe water to kiosks in village centres where locals can come to fill their containers - USh3 for 20 litres.
Of course, for the few who can afford to pay the USh5,000 connection fee and subsequent meter
charges it also means piped water directly to their homes. One of the 50 or so homeowners in such a position is Simion who now lives a comparatively privileged life. While most of his neighbours have neither electricity nor running water, he has both.
He also has two wives, one, Zedi, lives with him here in Burgei, the other lives elsewhere. Polygamy, while not practiced by younger Kenyans, is characteristic of the older communities - it's even recognised in the new constitution - and my typically western inquiries about jealousy and the like are met with non-plussed shrugs.
Simion can't speak the national language Kiswahili, not to mind English, so he doesn't have much to say to me, but Zedi is effervescent. Resplendent in a bold green ensemble she heaps effusive praise on Self Help Africa for assisting BWP. The company once served the needs of 1,000 people but since SHA's intervention it provides drinking water for more than 3,000 locals.
"We used to depend on water from the Molo river for our livestock and farm," Zedi recalls, but now she says they use the clean water from BWP for their crops, cattle, and domestic needs.
"This water is very clean compared to the Molo," she continues, adding that she's seen dead dogs and occasionally even dead people floating in the mud-brown flow that meanders through Burgei village.
She's not the only one who has reservations about going to the river for water, but for a lot of people there is still little alternative. Private enterprises like the Burgei Water Project will continue to play an important role in delivering clean water to rural Kenyans, but until the Government gets serious about its own commitments, mothers will continue to line up on the banks of the Molo and rivers like it, jerry cans in hand, waiting to collect murky water for their families.
