Henry Boocock in the Nandi Hills of Kenya
Roughly a 2 minute read
Kenya is a top location for tea, and one of the places that our tea buyers regularly visit so that we can keep in touch with the people that supply produce to us. But it’s also one of the places where we carry out lots of our sustainability work.
Earlier this year, Henry Boocock, one of our Tea Buyers, visited Kenya to see first hand how some of our projects were doing. As part of his trip, he went to see a project in the Nandi Hills called the Sosiot Water Project. Opened in 2015 with the support of Nandi Tea Ltd., this project aimed to help people in the valley with access to water.
Revisiting the project was a particular highlight for Henry, as he was lucky enough to be part of its opening back in 2015. Now, four years later, he was delighted to see that seven water tanks have been built near various villages and schools.
Each of these boasts a 50,000 litre capacity, and provides piped water to hundreds of people across the valley. With our continued support and investment, a solar pumping system has also been installed so that the water not only benefits the people down the valley (via a gravity fed system) but also by pumping the water up the hills to people who are furthest away from the source.
Prior to the tank being installed, the water for the school was collected from either a river at the bottom of the valley, or the main water source for the tanks which is down the hill a few kilometres away. This was often collected by the pupils themselves.
Now, the two to three hours taken for the children to collect the water each afternoon can be replaced by more classes, and as a result the local headteacher expects an improvement in grades.
At the main tanks where the solar pump is based, Henry met a lady called Margaret. She was an elderly member of the community, and the tanks had really helped her to enjoy a new lease of life. One of her main daily tasks was collecting water in containers and carrying them back up from the water source to her home. Since the tanks were built and she is no longer burdened by this daily task, she has seen her health improve dramatically.
““Following my trip, I felt this was a poignant time to remind myself and everyone in the team of this work we do and how impactful it really is! It has now become so ingrained into the business and our way of working, that if we are not careful it can almost be overlooked or go on in the background — unnoticed or not celebrated. So I just wanted to re-highlight the great work we are doing for our farmers and their communities at origin and the enormous impact this has on their lives. Seeing it again first hand again was heart-warming to say the least!””
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Last updated 22nd January 2020