The Masaai shepherds live in the south of Kenya, between the capital Nairobi and the border with Tanzania. The Masaai live in an area which is about half the size of the Netherlands. The area consists mainly of savannah with very few good grazing grounds.

No water
During the day the temperature rises to about 30 ºC. While they are drinking, the cattle defecate into the water. This is why the surface water in dead distributaries and pools soon becomes heavily contaminated by bacteria. Outside the rainy season there is often no water at all. Most of the rivers are dry for six months of the year.

Walking for miles
In recent years many springs have been drilled. But through ignorance, poor maintenance or lack of spare parts for machines, a number of springs no longer yield water. As a consequence, the shepherds with their flocks and the women and children often have to walk for miles to get water.

Water for the Masaai
Some years ago “Water for the Masaai” was started. The Water Supply Company Drenthe (WMD) and Amref Flying Doctors work together in this project. Now more than 52,000 nomads and hundreds of thousands of cows, goats, sheep and donkeys in the south of Kenya have clean water every day in their direct vicinity. More tribes will link up in the coming years, which will bring the number of people up to about 65,000. This is made possible by a unique formula.