RC Karura Gifts Residents of Kitui Good Sight, Clean Drinking Water
By Josephine Mugo
The Rotary Club of Karura in partnership with Lion’s Eye Hospital organized an eye camp for residents of Matinyani in Kitui County Kenya. The total number of patients screened was 288. About 24 of them received treatment for cataract while 30 other received reading glasses.
“The camp and the service were good. The doctors were good and kind and did not leave anyone without treatment, even those like me we came way after the scheduled camp time,’’ says Mulwa Muthengi, one of the beneficiaries.
Another beneficiary, Geraldine Nzilani, is grateful for getting reading glasses at almost no cost. She is now able to read the Bible, thread a needle and do a lot more things for herself, Nzilani says.
For Inya Meli, she went for the camp with her husband. “I had to hold his hand because his sight was very poor. I got glasses and eye drops but he was asked to report to ACK Kitui later so that he can be taken to Nairobi for surgery,’’ she says.
“Today his eyesight is as good as the young man I met many years ago. He sees things I struggle to see with clarity, even differentiates colours that are very similar. He got his sight back for free. Today he calls himself Mzee Kijana (a young old man) because of how clearly he can see in his senior years.’’
Ndiitime Borehole Water Project
At the start of the Rotary year, Rotary Club of Karura commissioned the first phase of an ongoing borehole project in Ndiitime, still in Kitui County, in partnership with several Rotary clubs in line with Adopt-a-Village Rotary initiative.
The first phase of the project was proposed in February 2019 and received global grant approval in October 2021. The Rotary Club of Karura together with Rotary Club of Kearney Dawn in District 5630 immediately embarked on implementing the project, which currently serves seven villages with a total population of 7,000. About 30% of the population are school age children, while women are the majority at 60%.
Each village has around 100 households with an average of 10 members per household. Most of the residents are engaged in livestock keeping, subsistence farming and retail trade. Many of them had to travel for more than 30 kilometers to nearest seasonal water point.
Scarcity of rains forced them to dig the ground in search of water and often, in precarious circumstances. Sometimes children had to miss school to assist in water collection.
The water project by the Rotarians draws its leadership from the residents of the village. The project generates some income by charging those who use the water for irrigation.
Support from the County Government of Kitui and Kyamatu Professional Forum brought additional partners in the last one year to support the project.
It is expected that provision will significantly reduce incidences of water-hygiene issues and water related diseases. The social impact includes family members having more time to engage in other meaningful activities, while girls have more time to focus on education-in a community predisposed to tasking girls to take up most of household chores. The community further benefits from economic empowerment through agribusiness.
The first phase of the project involved installation of a solar water pump at the borehole, construction of a water tower and raised metallic tank installation. Additional installation of seven kilometers, another five kilometers and construction of two kiosks is planned for the next phase.
