At last, clean water for thirsty Nanja village

Naini Mako cannot recall her age, but images of her fellow villager battling a hyena two years ago are still fresh in her memory.

This happened while the duo were walking in a thick forest searching for water. Six hours into the search, Naini and her neighbour Namelo encountered the hyena that confronted them with their empty jerry cans.

“We had been in the forest for six hours with no sign of water when we suddenly came across the beast,” says Naini.

Much as the two tried to scare the hyena away, it still stood there brandishing its teeth, ready to attack.

“Our only option was to run. But we hadn’t gone too far when my colleague tripped over a hump and in an instant, the hyena was on top of her, biting her,” recalls Naini with utmost remorse.

Naini’s screams to call for help bore no fruits, as they echoed within the thick forest. She had to pick sticks and stones around her in an attempt to scare the hyena away. By then, the beast had mauled her neighbour on her arm and leg.

“I managed to scare it away in the end but it had injured her so badly, I had to carry her home. Luckily I met some youth on my way out of the forest who helped me carry her to the dispensary,” says Naini.

Naini’s story represents the problems that residents of Nanja Village in Lepurko ward, in Arusha’s Monduli district used to face due to water scarcity in the area.

For a long time, residents of Nanja endured unspeakable ordeals associated with lack of clean water.

Women and young girls, sometimes with young children on their backs, had to walk for hours in unsafe territories with wild animals in search of water.

Being pastoralists, the Maasai communities in the area not only depended on water for domestic chores, but also for their livestock which included sheep, goats and cattle.

Someone waking up at sunrise setting out for the forest in search of water was assured of meeting wild animals like hyenas and venomous snakes, like in Naini’s case.

Nailejileji Ngerimboti used to walk ten hours three nights a week to fetch water for her household because of water scarcity.

Nailejileji, which means comforter in Maasai, could not breastfeed her young children and the dangerous walks at night exhausted the mother of three.

“I used to walk the whole night with my donkey in search of water,” she says.

According to the 30-year-old mother, the long walks in the cold and dark nights deprived her of quality time to spend with her family.

“The long journeys were not only exhausting but were also dangerous for me and my donkey. We did not always have enough water to wash our plates and utensils after cooking and eating.”

Water scarcity had a negative impact on the hygiene of their family members.

Tingide Shambuti, Nanja village chairman says 2010 was a trying moment for the villagers of Nanja.

Assisted by a Prince

The dry season was long, and there was neither pasture nor drinking water for their livestock.

“I lost 300 cows and decided to sell my remaining 100 cows to invest in my other business,” says the village chairman.

A husband to four wives and a father to 16 children, Tingide had to give up on cattle rearing because of the climatic conditions in Nanja village.

When he visited the village two years ago, Prince Joachim of Denmark was moved by the villagers’ ordeal.

Before he left, the Prince promised to assist the villagers through construction of a big dam that would spare them the trouble of walking long and turbulent distances in search of the precious commodity.

“He was touched by their plight but he could not promise them there and then the kind of support he would extend to them,” says Ms Tunia Dhahia, Technical Coordinator, Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) with CARE International in Tanzania.

According to the CARE official, a proposal was written and after some feasibility study, work that involved the ministry of Water, Monduli District Council and a private contractor began in Nanja village.

“The main objective was to improve health and secure lives especially among women and girls through provision of safe and clean water services within 400 metres from their households,” says Ms Dhahia.

Two years on, Nanja village sports a 200,000 cubic metre water dam, which would benefit some 950 households in the area. This translates into 4,269 people and 32,151 livestock.

It will also contribute to the prevention of water-borne diseases in the community, according to the WASH official.

Standing in front of the dam in Nanja with members of her family, Naini beams with joy. The nightmare of looking for water in dangerous places is now history.

“The dam has now made us forget the troubles of searching for water. We hope to keep it clean and use the clean water from the taps wisely,” she says.

Today, Nailejileji is a happy woman too. The dam is just ten minutes away from her house. She is also confident that the villagers will take good care of the dam.

“I’m proud because I live close to the dam. Having water close to my house gives me enough time to spend with my children and care for my family.”

Saningo Laizer, who owns 230 heads of cattle no longer walks six hours every day in search of water. The presence of the water dam will boost his cattle business in Monduli, hence sustain his daily income.

“You are assured of lucrative deals in cattle if they are fed and have water to drink, it is unlike in the past, thanks to this dam,” says the 30-year-old young man as he grazes his cattle near the dam.

As the sun sets, Nanja villagers return to their households happily, confident of their herd count and most importantly, they are assured of not waking up the next morning, pondering which forest to go to in search of water and what weapons to carry, in defence from the hyenas.

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