What you should know
- The Ogiek community recently won a legal battle against the Kenyan government over evictions from the Mau Forest, highlighting their ongoing struggle for recognition and rights.
- Despite residing near the Mau Forest, the Ogiek people face challenges in accessing clean water for domestic use. Poor sanitation practices, including open defecation, have contaminated water sources, increasing the risk of waterborne illnesses like cholera, dysentery, and typhoid, emphasizing the urgent need for clean water and hygienic conditions. The community health volunteer’s intervention with water purification education is highlighted as a life-saving measure.
- The narrative underscores the fundamental human right to access clean water, emphasizing the need for immediate action to install sustainable water solutions for the Ogiek community.
- There is a call for the Nakuru county government to prioritize installing protected boreholes, and water storage tanks, and providing piped water to reduce dependency on contaminated sources.
In the expansive lush green, rolling hills of the Mau Forest lives the Indigenous Ogiek community that has recently won another legal battle against the Kenyan government over evictions from the forest. With their close and ongoing relationship with nature, they are well renowned as Kenya’s first hunters and gatherers who since the beginning of British colonial rule have resided in the Mau Forest Complex of the western region, the largest montane forest in East Africa.
INSERT: Girls and Women sharing the same water with cattle. Photo: Stephen Khaemba
The Ogiek people have historically been neglected and thrown to the fringes of society.
While Mau Forest is a source of plenty of water, access to clean water for domestic use is still a major problem.
It’s normal to observe girls and women fetching water into jerrycans to bring home for household use while animals like cattle and donkeys drink next to them. The water sources are further contaminated due to poor sanitation habits like open defecation.
Water-borne diseases
According to Richard Kosgey, a member of the Indigenous Ogiek community, ‘diseases such as typhoid, cholera, and dysentery are quite common in our community.
“As a matter of fact, I was bedridden for weeks, and my children suffered too due to poor sanitation and unsafe drinking water. Moreover, the community health volunteer taught us how to boil water and use water purification tablets. It saved our lives,” he said.
According to a report commissioned by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention 2023, boiling water is an effective way to make water safe and treat your water with chlorine treatment products. Heating water to a high temperature aids in killing viruses and bacteria causing waterborne diseases.
For Collins Lesingo, a young adult who fought off cholera, it was a close call. ” The cholera itself was a merciless beast that struck suddenly and without warning. I was one of its victims who experienced frequent, severe attacks of diarrhea and vomiting. The sheer amount of bodily fluids released during the agony was staggering, and the pain was severe. We became dehydrated, and as a result, our bodies dwindled away, our skin sagged, and our eyes became empty and haunting.”
INSERT; Collins Lesingo, victim. Photo: Stephen Khaemba.
But amid this grim struggle, some stepped up, community health volunteers (CHVs) among the Ogiek, who served as beacons of hope.
They educated us on the importance of hygiene and sanitation and tirelessly emphasized the need to prevent water-borne diseases in our homes.
However, their noble efforts were often thwarted by the cruel reality of our situation – a lack of access to clean and safe water in Mariashoni Molo-sub county and Nessuit in Njoro constituency.
“We move from one household to another, urging people to use clean water, but what choice do they have if they cannot access water from a clean and safe source?” wondered Hellen Sitiengi, one of the dedicated CHVs.
Hillary Leleito, another CHVs who has done the job for two years asked the leaders in authority to at least provide them with stipends to facilitate them to move swiftly to reach the patients on time before it gets worse claiming that poor road infrastructure hinders them from moving from one place to another.
As the popular phrase goes, “Health is wealth,” and the Ogiek community, like any other, thrives on good health. CHVs play a pivotal role in improving public health among the Ogiek, sensitizing people about diseases and encouraging the sick to seek medical attention.
Community health volunteers
Wesley Chepkwony, the chairman of Community Health Volunteers (CHVs), Mariashoni, said that the big challenges being faced by the community is poor infrastructure, road network and health facilities being far from the people. Also, lack of knowledge among the people about transmission and prevention of water-borne diseases.
Joseph Prengei, a village elder, in Ndoswa village, thanked the community health volunteers for the good and humanitarian work they are providing to the community and also asked every member of the community to make sure they use clean and safe water for domestic purposes in making sure that all water-borne diseases are eliminated once and for all.
INSERT; Joseph Prengei, a village elder, in Ndoswa village, Installed a water tank. Photo: Stephen Khaemba.
Access to clean water is a fundamental human right. To ensure that the Ogiek community have immediate access to clean water, it is imperative to install protected boreholes and water storage tanks.
Providing vulnerable areas with piped water must be a top priority for the Nakuru county government to reduce dependency on contaminated sources such as rivers and streams for household use.
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