A NUMBER of Islanders travelled to Kenya last month to help build a water source as part of the first volunteer trip run by Jersey Overseas Aid since 2019.
The group of 12 visited Tawa in the Ukambani region from 18 June to 1 July to build a sand dam, which helps to collect rainwater and provide a source of water during dry periods.
Members of the Tawa community can spend up to 12 hours a day fetching water – which is often unfit for human consumption.
This was the first trip run by JOA since the start of the Covid-19 pandemic and was one of a number of opportunities in which Islanders could volunteer to support communities abroad that might be struggling.
Robbie Wareing-Jones, one of the volunteers who travelled to Kenya, said it was the ‘hardest two weeks of physical labour’ he had ever completed.
‘My admiration for the Kaseveni community in Tawa, who are determined to end the hours-long daily commute from home in order to collect what we access, simply by turning on one of the many taps we have in our homes, leaves me more convinced than ever that poverty may indeed be always with us but it does not mean it is inevitable,’ he said.
‘If we claim to belong to a caring community, when addressing the position of people in poverty wherever they may live, our response must come as much from our hearts as from our collective wealth.’
Mr Wareing-Jones said his experiences during the trip opened his eyes to the scale of ‘21st-century poverty, how it works and its impact on people and places’.
‘Despite excellent pre-trip briefings and printed guidance provided by both JOA and Sand Dams Worldwide, I think it is fair to say none of us could have predicted just how our experiences over the next 12 days would impact us both emotionally and physically,’ he said.
‘Few of the team had even travelled to Kenya before, let alone learned how to build a dam, so we went with open minds, albeit with a certain amount of trepidation.
‘It soon became clear that our eyes were to be opened in a profound way to the effects of this kind of poverty, the likes of which we have not seen in Jersey.’
Mr Wareing-Jones said that Jersey had a ‘very strong and well-run network providing for those in need’.
He has encouraged the new States Assembly to continue to support JOA, while dealing with ‘competing demands locally’.
Rachel Carlotti, operations officer for the JOA, said: ‘It was inspirational to work in partnership with the local Kenyan community and learn about how this sand dam will transform their lives first hand.
‘In the grand scheme of things, volunteering for a few weeks may feel like a small contribution however, its often the total sum of these contributions that make the biggest impact. Later this year the JOA will be announcing our volunteering opportunities for 2023.’
