Quenching thurst of slum dwellers

Yolanda Chakava, 27, an engineer based in the UK, was driven to establish the Haki Water Foundation when she learnt of the water problems slum dwellers in Nairobi go through. She spoke to CRYSTAL OKUSA

She knew the problem of water shortage in slums in Nairobi was vast and a single hand could not fill it, but still she wanted to make a mark even if it would just be a drop of water in the ocean.

Yolanda Chakava

This longing and burning desire to change the lives of slum dwellers by providing this vital fluid is what drove the energetic Yolanda Chakava, 27 to start the Haki Water Foundation.

The charity organisation, which was coined out of the Swahili for justice, rights and fairness was officially launched last week by the Deputy Prime Minister Musalia Mudavadi in the presence of other high profile dignitaries.

Drumming the issue

So how did she hear her calling?

Working in the UK, Yolanda used to watch a feature bulletin on Kenya aired by one of the international press, when it struck her how Kenyans were suffering because of poverty and somebody had to act fast.

"When I moved to the UK, in 1999, is when I realised the level of poverty in my country. I watched how the international press kept drumming the issue, until I was driven to act.

It was so disheartening to watch on TV how Kenyans in the slums were surviving without water. So I started researching on how I could help," explains Yolanda. Yolanda had gone to the University of Leeds, UK, to study engineering after finishing school at Braeburn High School.

She graduated from Leeds in 2002 and was lucky because she immediately landed a job at the Atkins Engineering Consultancy, in Birmingham, UK.

She excelled the in the male-dominated field as the only woman and African at the time and grew into a project engineer at the same firm. After she got her qualification as an incorporated engineer, Yolanda grabbed the opportunity of charitable project scholarship available for women in engineering through the Institution of Civil Engineering (ICE) in the UK.

She then did her on-line research to see how she could help through her expertise in water. She got to know Galilee Primary School and Lorna Waddington High School in Kayole slums, Nairobi that were raising funds for a borehole.

success of project

She says; "I applied for the scholarship to get involved in that project and I got it in 2007. I donated around Sh127,000, and would come to supervise construction of the project as a volunteer through another charity foundation called Kenya Kids in Need."

The Haki Water Foundation has grown immensely due to the mass interest it attracted at her work place – Atkins Engineering Consultancy.

"When I went back to England after the completion of the project, I had pictures and also did presentations for the ICE and my colleagues at Atkins on the success of the project, many of them wanted to get involved in supporting the school," she says adding: "With the help I was getting, we managed to support the school’s first form-four educational trip to Magadi. Through monthly fundraising like organising bike trips, pop quizzes and charity walks we were able to raise around Sh127,000."

Word spread so fast and soon her help was needed around the other slums and her next stop was Kibera to view more projects as a free consultant. She started using her holiday time to view projects around slums in Nairobi.

As successful as the Galilee Primary School project in Kayole was, Yolanda only realised last year that there were some fundamental issues she did not deal with and that it was a very common problem slum dwellers suffered after building the boreholes.

"Last year, the school sent me a letter about the problems they were facing with the borehole. They were trying to fundraise for a generator and needed my help to raise the money. I also realised they were having issues with maintenance of the borehole," reminisces Yolanda.

She adds; "A lot of people who help out with such projects back in the slums rarely take into account teaching the people on what next after they have the borehole. If it is not maintained properly those who consume the water can fall sick."

She set out to research on this matter and found herself in high-level conferences with experts dealing with water projects in Africa.

"I was doing a lot research at the time I was attending the seminars and I felt the gap because most of these organisations were more target-driven but would rarely take time to understand the issues on the ground. The answers on action taken about the boreholes in disrepair were never direct. It was as if they were not really looking at the long-term effects of the project hence there was never progress. Some of these experts had never been to the places they were supporting as they had middlemen but never following up," says the enthusiastic philanthropist.

Maintenance

That prompted Yolanda’s next agenda; to get funding for the maintenance of the existing boreholes through the ICE before drilling more. She also planned to do more rain water harvesting, which is very common in the UK but is not exploited here in Kenya.

"When I followed up on the Kayole project, they were spending over Sh230,000 monthly just on the borehole, something they probably would not have spent if they were still buying water and this was an issue that needeed to be addressed. That is what Haki Water is about.

Last year, I formed a team of four people who are both from the UK and Kenya to understand the issues on the ground and applying for funding for maintenance, treatment and operation of the boreholes," says Yolanda.

Amidst all this work, Yolanda who is the lastborn in a family of three girls still has a girly side and likes to play too.

On marriage, Yolanda says she first wants to develop herself as a woman before settling down.

So what’s her focus now that she is in the country?

"Right now my focus is on this project and I have even taken six months unpaid leave to concentrate on it. I have taken it as a job while I am here and just relax during the weekends," she says.

When she is not working or hanging out with her family and friends, Yolanda says she likes to go to the gym because her work could be very demanding and that is the only time she can unwind and release her stresses.

With big dreams, Yolanda moved to London for more promising opportunities with Entech Technical Solutions as a project manager. Due to her dedication in this water project, she was recently awarded a Masters scholarship Research in Water and Sanitation for the urban poor at Cranfield University.

"I am working on all the water projects around the slums and getting people who are willing to support the projects before we start drilling new boreholes next year, starting with Camp Ohana in Kitengela" she concludes.