When Kenyans were visited by a guest called Covid 19 in March 2020, who knew that this guest would completely ignore the wishes of its host and continue to stay put? Shamelessly, during its self-imposed stay, it also decided to give birth to the Delta Strain! It seems Covid 19 is a fact of our lives now and in the foreseeable future. Nevertheless, some blessings have come with this pandemic. Washing of hands regularly with soap and wearing masks has had unintended benefits. Incidences of the common cold and flu have greatly reduced. As an effort to try and mitigate against infection, a nationwide campaign led by the Government of Kenya and other well-wishers including Rotary District 9212 was undertaken targeting town centers, schools and health care facilities. These measures, though laudable, are not enough to tackle the core causes of water and sanitation issues.
Enter the Rotary Club of Gachie Global Grant. Early in 2020, the 2 year old Club partnered with 22 Rotary Clubs in Washington State USA led by Rotary Club Lacey and 5 clubs in Europe to apply for a Wash Project grant in Kisii, Nyamira, Bomet and Kericho counties. The project targets 37 primary schools and 70 health care facilities. The grant application was approved in October 2020. The scope of the project is to install gutters and water tanks for rainwater harvesting, provide micro-filtered safe drinking water systems, hand washing facilities and improvement of these facilities’ toilets. This is a 2- year project divided into three phases.
Phase 1 of the project is officially over, with 10 schools and 20 health centres having benefited from the project. WaSH touches on all the 7 areas that Rotary focuses on, directly and indirectly. This is therefore one of our major milestones as a club, the remarkable efforts in this project have not gone unnoticed.