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Meet the Board
Meet the Board
MARA CONSERVATION
encouraging empathy for other life
MLP Team in Morocco
Advisors in Morocco
Imagine walking 12 km each day with 20 liters of water on your back
Community Clean Water Program
We've learned from our community in the Maasai Mara that getting access to safe, clean water is the greatest daily challenge for 1000s of families. Many families get their water from open sources such as rivers and pits shared with wildlife and cattle. An estimated 80% of hospitalizations here are related to consuming unsafe water. Fetching water also puts a crushing burden on women, as they are responsible for finding it and carrying it home on their back day after day, often long distances.
We address this challenge in 3 ways:
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Solar-Pumped Groundwater Systems that put water and taps inside communities
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Rainwater Harvesting Systems, when a smaller scale solution makes sense
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Home and school based portable water filters
Solar-Pumped Groundwater Systems
We've built Groundwater Systems in 5 communities with our Kenyan engineering partner BlueTik Front. Each project begins with hydrogeological analysis to determine if the site is suitable for drilling. This checks for specific concerns in groundwater in this region, including excess fluoride. If a location is determined suitable with water healthy for people and minimal environmental impact, a Groundwater System can be developed with solar-pumped borehole 200+ meters deep, 20,000 liters of water storage, and taps within the community for year-round access. The System is then handed over to the community. Sample hydro report
CASE STUDY: In 2024, we built a Groundwater System for a large community around Enoorokon village in Siana Ward of the Mara, providing water for 2700 people (400 families) along with a school.
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This was a challenging area for access to water, as women here were walking 12 kilometers every day to fetch water from a river in distant hills. Now they fill their bottles from a central water point with 8 taps right in their community.
Rainwater Harvesting
In some cases, a simple Rainwater System works well. If rainwater is not adequate year-round, this may be combined with other sources.
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We installed Rainwater Harvesting at our Women's Work Center, drained from the aluminum sheet roof. The women were previously getting water from the nearby Talek River, which is contaminated with fecal matter from animals. This system is close to where the women live and easy to access when they're at the Center. We recommend filtering the water at home and provide portable filters for this purpose.
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Future plans including scaling this initiative to smaller community projects such as the Village Libraries.
Portable Water Filters
We distribute filtering systems donated by our health partner MAMA Project to families and to schools and small communities. Stacking bucket systems for home use incorporate Sawyer filters, and the larger community systems are made with LifeStraw filters. Both are state-of-the-art membrane filters. Aquatabs are provided for removing bacteria and viruses. These systems are valuable for communities who get their water from local surface-area sources such as rivers. It's a simple approach that works.
Women at the Oliveseed Women's Work Center were trained by the team at MAMA Project on assembling, using, and maintaining these systems. They now teach other women in their community.
