JOY

I had my family and friends visit on Mazingira day , Oct 10 and as I was watched my nephew squeal in delight as he pushed his toy car toward made me smile . I felt a wonderfully warm feeling rise within me and thought of Saint Thomas Aquinas definition of ?joy : “delights of the soul.” That’s what this feeling was, joy.

?My nephew is 16 months old and knows who to go to when he needs something . He ran over to me and leaned into my glass indicating he was thirsty at which point ,his mum asked quickly before he drunk from my cup “is it bottled water ?” This is a rhetorical question in Nairobi .Bottled water or filtered water is all we can drink nowadays.

?We have adapted to the poor quality tap water we receive, thus we?boil ,filter ?or buy bottled water to drink. There are water dispensers in millions of homes in Kenya . it is now our way of life.

Millions of Kenyans including the Samburu community however do not have access to clean or filtered water nor can they afford bottled water. The Samburu community, continue to drink water from the rivers and wells they come across or dig as an only resort. They have been educated on the contaminated waters , on how to wash hands before they eat and after they go to the toilet. The programs offer temporary, not ?sustainable solution on how to continually access clean water . They are thirsty, sick and dehydrated . The ground water is so heavily polluted that this community is ailed by bilharzia, cholera, typhoid continually . Currently Samburu County is one of the four poorest counties in Kenya . Most of Samburu’s 310,000 people rely on livestock management as a primary source of income . They use this income to buy medicine and food . This year they lost 2.5 million cattle due to the drought . Cattle provided them with milk as a source of food and healthy alternative to water.

When does a mother in Samburu experience ?joy? Do her children come to her when they are thirsty is that how they are brought up? Does she experience joy iwhen she hears her children laughing and playing or does she worry wondering what their lips have licked or where their hands have been? She does what she can to purify their water , when they are home she uses clay pots to store boiled but children and adults often do not wash their hands, is that because they don’t know better or because or is the issue bigger than that in that there isn’t enough or any clean water at home?

?Various health, WASH?and animal husbandry programs have and are running in Samburu county several with higher than expected high results yet here we are . Without water there can be no life .

The truth is we are all connected emotionally, geographically, ethically, socially, hydrologically . This mazingira day I hope you planted a tree in your garden, in a pot ?or with your community .Though you may not be the immediate benefactor, your children have a better chance of drinking clean water , breathing in cleaner air . if you did not or could not plant a tree encourage and support those who do .

If you have or know of communities that are planting trees which others could support please share in the comments.

Also share in the comments what brings you “delights of the soul” and spread the joy . Have a delightful week!

?“ what I hear I forget, what I see I remember ,?I what do I understand “ Confucius