When we pulled into the school gate, the first thing to catch our attention was the energetic game of football on the dirt grounds played by children of all ages in their bright red school uniforms and, for some, bare feet.
An innovative foot pump for watering the vegetable garden
The second thing that caught our eye was a small group of boys peddling on some kind of pump and watering the small green shoots of kale struggling in the hot sun. This pump is one purchased by Kijani using funding from Collier Trust.
Kijani’s volunteer Barney Muckle, a retired agricultural engineer, discovered this little known device in his work and, after assessing the situation at the school, surmised that it would be perfect.
An earth dam lined with heavy duty plastic
The new guttering on the roofs of the school classrooms provided more water than could be stored in the two storage tanks. Barney then had the idea of digging a small dam on the lower end of a ever-so-slight slope on the grounds and lining it with a heavy duty plastic.
This ‘dam’ could now store gallons upon gallons of water. While the rest of the area dried up and all neighbouring crops died, the school had plenty of water.
The trick is to get the water from the dam to the crops. Hence the pump – the foot pump easily generated enough of a water flow to allow the children to water their cabbages and kale. This cabbage and kale was for some children their only source of vitamins and minerals during this drought.
Kenya Tourism Board