from TreeHugger.com
by Bonnie Alter, London
The heart warming story at last year's London Marathon was the group of six Masai warriors who came to London to raise awareness and money to bring clean water to their village in Tanzania. The press and the public were fascinated to hear about these men who wore tires for shoes, carried swords and had never been on an airplane, or sipped tea.
They raised more than £100,000 ($147,000) and then the real challenges began. The villagers welcomed them back as heroes and expected that they would find water overnight.
Clean water was crucial to the village's health. More than one third of the children were dying from diseases. Women and children had to walk 10 k. to find clean water and children were too exhausted to go to school. Grazing cattle had to travel great distances to drink at watering holes and risked dehydration and predators along the way.
Working with Greenforce, an NGO from the UK, local contractors and foreign experts were hired to find water but this was not so easy. The villagers assumed that finding water was simply a matter of drilling for it. They saw vast amounts of money being spent and couldn't understand why no water was being found. From the Times: "Initial drilling based on the Masai’s own methods of procuring water, which included sacrificing a goat on the site, found only rock. Deeper drilling was conducted, even though there was evidence that the area was arid from drought, because of the Masai’s belief that it had water reserves. None was found."
Tensions developed between Greenforce, which was being accused of dishonesty, and the villagers. Contractors raised their prices when they heard how much money had been raised. Other non-profits claimed that they could do it cheaper and faster. The Masai warriors were being put the in the uncomfortable position of mediating and not having all the answers to the difficult questions.
Finally in March a surveyor confirmed that water had been found and a drilling rig was sent for; this was a six day off-road journey to the village. The next day water trickled to the ground, amidst great joy and jubilation. The water is expected to supply two remote communities; each will have a 50,000 litre reservoir constructed and a pipeline is being laid to deliver the water to where it is needed most.
The success of the project was tempered with the realisation that "Greenforce has helped us a lot and are our friends. But we are Masai and want to do things for outselves."
