Most of the homes in the rural areas rely on river water, and the task of fetching water from the river is overwhelmingly borne by young girls who are made to walk long distances to the nearest river and then carry the heavy containers home. This is unnecessary—especially since the Vihiga area receives enough rainfall to supply sufficient water. But the cost of tanks makes it difficult or near impossible for most of these families to install a system to collect water. Simply collecting the rainwater would reduce the wasted time and energy; it would also make the water supply much safer.
Since its founding in 2019, the RKM Foundation has donated ten tanks to individual households in Vihiga district. Mr. and Mrs. Chamwada are such recipients. Every day the 85-year-old Ericah Chamwada made three or four trips on a narrow dirt path to collect water from a river about half a mile away from her house. Mrs. Chamwada is blind, and yet she has managed to do this on her own for years. She received her tank two years ago and, needless to say, her family’s life has been transformed. The ready supply of clean water, the lessened workload, and the lowered threat of waterborne diseases, has made her life and her health immeasurably better. More water tanks can improve more lives in the same way.
The foundation has provided tanks to the following families in rural Western Kenya:
