Mt Kilimanjaro, TZ – Students grateful that water connection gives them free time and energy to study – 27 Sep 2017

Mr. POK’s two youngest sons still live at home and they are celebrating the family’s direct water connection at their home. Previously the boys would spend almost all of their time after school fetching water. Now they hope to be able to focus on their studies. If they can score well on their exams, they may be able to continue their education past secondary school, a feat no one in the family has accomplished yet.

The POK family started working with Lishe Bora in 2015. They started an organic vegetable garden and joined the Mkyashi Vicoba community bank group. Their primary income source is cooking “mbege” – the locally made banana beer. The beer has very low alcohol content and it plays an important role in local social and ceremonial life. It also uses up a lot of water. Mr. POK suffered a stroke a few years ago and he used to rely on his sons to help fetch water. In total the family would use 15-20 buckets per day.

On a typical day the children would get home from school and then start bringing water home from the spring. When they finished fetching water they would water the garden, wash their clothes, and help with any other family chores. When all of this was finished, if it was still light out and they still had energy, they could do school work. Now, the boys no longer need to carry water. They quickly water the garden and wash their clothes after school and then have all evening to focus on school work.

Joseph is in his fourth year of secondary school and Dennis is in 5^th grade. Both boys are excited to improve their school performance with more study time and energy. Mr. POK says he has been re-energized to keep the family’s vegetable garden in good condition and also to expand the family’s livestock projects. With a home water connection, it is much easier to plan for the future.