Water Changes Everything

Here in Kenya we finally have rain after a couple of months of a dry period. Not that the rain is consistent but it’s enough to keep the dust down. The dry period came later than normal so this changes things for our crops – planting and reaping times.

At our training farm in Kiserian we are very blessed to have a good water supply. Sure, we have our challenges but nothing in comparison to our neighbours. Where the farm sits it is on the leeward side of some hills. That means we receive much less rain than others in the same area. It’s an advantage if we don’t have all of our maize in, basically it buys us time.

At Osiligi we have a number of water tanks, piping down to the shamba (gardens) and drip lines for our crops.  In the greenhouses the trainees hand water our tomatoes.

When we talk to people about Osiligi the first question they always have is ‘Do you have water?’ When they hear about our water supply, they give this approving nod.

Why – because water here really does change everything.

If you don’t have water your crops will die, your cattle will die and your business will fail. Water is essential to life.

At Osiligi we have so much water we are now able to sell it off to our neighbours. That way they don’t have to walk several kilometres to buy it, saving them both valuable time and money. It also enables the farm to get closer to self-sustainability, which is very important. We aim by the end of 2014 to have Osiligi paying for itself through the sale of vegetables, pigs and water.

When we started the farm in Kiserian a few years ago it was just bare land. Now there are two dormitories, teachers accommodation, a dining hall, three greenhouses, a workshop, gardens, business clubs, a football field and a toilet block.

This year we want to start expanding to give our staff better facilities, a classroom, a training centre, a farm managers house and an IT resource room. To date we have had generous donors from New Zealand, Australia and Holland. There’s so much more to be done but we are always thankful for those who sacrificially give.

March 22^nd is World Water Day, a day when we remember that just turning on the tap is a privilege that one billion people don’t have.

Afri-Lift is grateful that we have adequate water at Osiligi and it is a great thing to be able to bless those around us with access to clean water.

Jesus said, “I am the Water of Life, he who comes to me will never thirst again”. Our goal throughout our programs is for people to come to personally know Christ and make a change in their local community.

This week when you turn on a tap or flush a toilet remember us in East Africa. Because of our generous partners we can literally give people access to water but we are giving them the life changing message of Jesus Christ.