The Rainwater Harvesting Project, Kenya

The Rainwater Harvesting Project

Ilbaan is a community nestled between the Maasai Mara National Reserve and Naboisho Conservancy in the Narok District of Kenya. Until relatively recently, the primary school and wider community here did not have access to safe, clean drinking water and villagers were forced to collect their water from rivers and dams where the water is shared with livestock and wildlife.

Despite previous efforts by aid organisations to combat this issue by installing boreholes, the high levels of fluoride in this water as well as the expense to upkeep such a solution meant that the village continued to go without safe drinking water which therefore resulted in high levels of illness and disrupted education.

In 2018, we partnered with the Maa Trust to construct a community rainwater harvest system in Ilbaan. With the annual average rainfall in the Mara, this water system can sustain the entire population of 1426 residents in the surrounding areas of Ilbaan for an entire year with 5.8 litres of safe and clean drinking water per person per day. In addition, the structure also provides a shaded space for community gatherings, consultations, and social enterprise. We are very proud to say that this very water tank is guaranteed to sustain the population of Ilbaan for at least another two decades.

The Rainwater Harvesting Project

This video filmed by Exodus Travels’ Olly Pemberton showcases this terrific initiative – Rainwater Harvesting System by The Maa Trust and Africa Water Bank addressing the needs of the Oloosokon community water needs in the Maasai Mara.