Korr is not just a place: it is a community united by the common fight against thirst. Every day people travel up to 15 km to reach the nearest water point: an exhausting journey that takes precious time away from education, work and family life. Women and children bear the greatest burden of this effort, which compromises their health, commits their present and mortgages their future.
With no permanent rivers and water sources that dry up quickly during periods of drought, the search for water is a daily odyssey. Families, and with them the agricultural and subsistence farming activities they practice, depend on surface and underground wells, often distant and not always safe. The lack of drinking water forces children to miss school days and women to make enormous physical efforts, aggravating their vulnerability.
But even in such a difficult scenario there is still the possibility of dreaming of a better future. Especially when one does not dream alone, but, gradually, new people come to corroborate that dream, which then becomes an idea, and therefore a project and finally also a reality.
This journey of hope, dreams and projects began over 50 years ago, in 1972, when an Italian Fidei Donum priest, Father Redento Tignonsini, founded a very Spartan mission in Korr. Before his arrival Korr was just a bush with lots of trees and wild animals. Nomads arrived in this area only during the rainy season, when green grass was available to graze livestock.
Instead, Father Tignonsini, digging wells, realised that water was available for survival, so it was possible to start a permanent settlement. He built a dispensary to treat the sick and a shop to sell essential products for the population. The aim was to demonstrate the love of Christ with development activities, according to the needs of the population, respecting the culture of the local population.
Not even 10 years later, in 1981 the Salesians took over, transforming it into a beacon of hope for the local community. Located approximately 600 km from the capital Nairobi, the mission provides education, health care and food support to communities in one of Kenya's most isolated and needy regions.
In the midst of so many difficulties, the Salesians have always been committed to fighting the problem of drought. In 2018, a well was dug in one of the villages, but the water over time proved too saline to be used. Despite this setback, the determination of the religious has not wavered, and two new wells have recently been dug with better quality water. One has already been completed, thanks to the solidarity of a special benefactor, while the other is still waiting to be completed.
As the drilling works have already been carried out, the project currently involves the installation of the equipment necessary for the proper functioning of the well: solar pumps, pipes and a 20,000-litre tank. The water will thus be able to flow into the tanks, treated and made accessible to the local community. This will improve the quality of life and health of over 800 families.
"Imagine a girl who can finally attend school regularly because she no longer has to spend hours looking for water" say the Salesians from the Salesian Mission Office in Turin, the Missioni Don Bosco NGO, who have taken on the task of supporting this project.
"Together we can make a difference, transforming their daily struggle for water into a story of change and hope. Let's build together a future in which water access is no longer a privilege, but a right guaranteed for everyone", the Mission Office says.
For more information, visit: www.missionidonbosco.org
