Up to date, 25 households have purchased 25 water tanks of 5,000 litres. This means that the community has invested KES. 40,000X 25= KES. 1,000,000 (SEK 100,000) in just over 1 year! MajiMtaani Initiative has contributed 25X5, 000 =125,000 (SEK 12,500). This means that out of a total of KES. 1,125,000 investment, the community has raised 89% of the resources and only supported with 12%. The goal of the two Sub Counties is to have 2,000 households harvesting rain water by December 31, 2018.

Margaret’s Story
When Margaret heard of the vision, she decided to take leadership. She mobilized women groups’ leaders and developed a strategy for achieving the vision. Here is she has to say:

“My Name is Margaret Mutiso, living in Machakos County, Kangundo Sub County. I am a housewife, married with 4 children. In our community, accessing clean, affordable water is a nightmare. As the woman of the house it is my role to fetch water which I used to walk for not less than 3 Kilometres to get it. Last year, I Choose Life – Africa mobilized us to develop our community vision. One of the problems we all converged around was accessibility to clean water. We therefore came up with a flagship project of having 1,000 residents of Kangundo accessing clean, affordable and portable water by harvesting rain water through 5,000 litre water tank capacity. I Choose life – Africa (ICL) through MajiMtaani Initiative committed to match KES 5,000 for every KES 40,000 that the community mobilizes for water tank purchase.

I teamed up with my women group “Sisters of Mary” to be supporting each one of us every month to purchase the water tanks. Our members are 25. Each of us contributed KES 1,200 every month which totalled to KES 30,000. ICL would then add us KES 5,000 and we would purchase a tank every month. The individual whose tank has been purchased would then buy gutters and build a slab where the tank would be placed. This usually cost an average of KES 10,000. By March 2018, we had all purchased a water tank for our members’ households.

Now I can afford clean, affordable and portable water from the comfort of my house. The time I used to fetch water I now spend in my economic activities. This has also provided my children with ample time to read as I don’t need to be sending them to fetch water.”

Margaret Mutiso is one among the many lives that I Choose Life – Africa has touched through the MajiMtaani Initiative.