With literacy levels standing at 26.2% in Marsabit County, PACIDA in collaboration with the Ministry of Education and other like minded actors supports education interventions in a bid to boost the literacy levels . PACIDA values education and we aim at increasing the retention rate of learners in school in order to improve educational outcomes and life chances. Every child deserves a chance. We promote inclusive education, which has been internationally recognized as a philosophy for attaining equity, justice and quality education for all children and Iman Ayisha of Kalacha Nomadic Girls’ is privileged to have benefited from our interventions. “I used to see people go to school, and each time I kept wondering how their lives would be after they finished school. I was sure though, that I would remain hopeless miserable girl. They looked dapper in their uniforms,” she says holding her chin. She continues to say, “sitting…
Pastoralist Community Initiative and Development Assistance (PACIDA), through possible funding from USAID through FH Kenya in a bid to improve water access through introduction of private water provision services, has introduced first ever pre-paid water meters in four sites (Dirib Gombo & Odda boreholes, Shauri Yako & Saku water kiosks) of Marsabit County. The minimum population set to benefit from the new technology is 28,500 people. So far, two water kiosks (Shauri Yako and Saku) have been installed with the pre-paid meters and are operational. The system is seen to have sustainable service which brings water closer to people’s homes, contributes to improved health and well -being by reducing the burden on women and enabling them to engage their time more productively hence increasing resilience for the entire community. The project also ensures that water projects are sustainable and continue to serve communities by improving integrity in the management and…
Yattane Chachu from Koronder, awaiting for her turn to fetch water after PACIDA’s intervention of water trucking to the community who go for weeks without water. “More outside aid is required to boost the efforts of PACIDA and other like-minded organisations,” says Yattani Chachu from Koronder village in northern Kenya . The humanitarian system has many layers and structures attached to it, and operates in areas where a policy of one size fits all does not work. It is important to invest in capacity at all levels of the humanitarian system and not just at the headquarters level. Local organizations often operate in areas that international NGO’s cannot get to, and where governments may not have the scope. In February 2017, UN OCHA reported that 12.8 million individuals in four East African countries were experiencing acute levels of food insecurity and needed humanitarian assistance because of drought. Kenya is one…
Its early afternoon at Koronder village, 55 kilometres from Turbi town, the ride is certainly jerky occasioned by the dilapidated road condition. As we drive deeper into the village, we are greeted by sights of numerous carcasses sprawling on the already lifeless pebbles and the bare surrounding. I suddenly have a long face like a wet weekend and in my head for a second, I think I am being delusional. So I pick up my broken self and we keep driving further in. For the animals that are lucky to survive, their body condition is worrying to say the least. The faces of the are even more emaciated than the animals themselves. So we decide to stop by one of the herds of shoats and the situation is awful. I try as much as I can to fight back my tears and finally I collect myself and walk up to…
In a bid to improve water access to community members from Ambalo Location of Moyale Sub- County, PACIDA Kenya has partnered with the German Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development (BMZ) and Caritas Germany to excavate a 35,000 cubic meters water pan. The area is dry and community members trudge long distances in search of water for household and livestock use. Within Ambalo location, there are only three small capacity earth pans which whenever it rains, their water could only last for three weeks before diminishing. This is due to the high absorbent nature of the earth pan soil. The only other water source around is a borehole, whose water happens to have high salinity levels, above the World Health Organization acceptable salinity level . Barako Guyo Koro, a 32- year old gentleman says he has been a victim of impacts of high water salinization. Others have developed bone-…
Ethiopia is only three kilometres away to the North of Sololo town in Moyale Sub-county, Marsabit County. Five kilometres from the town lies an only girls’ boarding school in the Sub-county, Dr. Guracha Girls’ Boarding School that has been in existence for nine years with a population of 186 students, 10 teachers and 8 support staff. The school hits a home run each year with their sterling academic performance but according to the school’s principal, Ms. Amina Wako, if the underlying challenges they face are solved, the academic perform would be exceptional. “You see, there is no office that my feet have not treaded. I have literally knocked into all offices requesting for help. Some of them have even gotten a little groggy whenever they see me. Others have literally walked out on me when they saw me approaching, says Ms. Amina, flashing a smile at me. A seemingly agitated…
December, 2016 El Besso, North Horr Sub-county- Iya Qoto, a female herder residing in one of the outskirts far flang villages of El Besso, 30 kilometres from El Besso watering point and 70 kilometres from North Horr town of North Horr Sub-county, had made it a routine every four days a week at 3.00am to start her journey to the closest water point, El Besso. Each day she set out on a journey to the borehole, the trekking distance was too far that it lasted two days before reaching the water point. Her worst days were when there was a mechanical break down. She could camp by the water point with hopes that it would be repaired soon. “One day I got to the borehole, my animals and I were stranded with no idea of where to turn to. Days on end I stayed by the borehole hoping the repair…
Access to safe water and sanitation are essential to human health, environmental sustainability and economic prosperity. For Marsabit County to get to the desired level, great strides have to be made by different stakeholders including embracing the communal pre-paid water meters which ensures equitable access to water regardless of your social standing in the community, besides of course boosting revenue collection from water sale. With prepaid metering, the consumer is in control of their own water usage, as they decide how much water to purchase. The prepaid metering solution ensures that the consumer can now budget for their water bill as per their purchasing power. PACIDA through Maji Milele Limited with funding from USAID through Food for the Hungry has come up with an innovative sustainable solution to addressing better access to water in at least three locations within Marsabit County through installation of communal pre-paid water meters at water…
With their limited food stocks from 2018 harvest already depleted and temperatures soaring up to 40 Degrees Celsius during the day, there is an urgent need for food to regain energy and clean water to cushion the dire effects of dehydration,” says Adhe Wario, Programme Director for Pastoralist Community Initiative and Development Assistance (PACIDA) in Kenya. In Yaa Galbo, one of the zones that has been hardest hit by the drought, hundreds of households are surviving on one meal a day. Women and children are trekking over 20kms every day in search of water. An estimated 400 families are in need of emergency assistance. In Namarei, Laisamis Sub-county, people have resigned to drinking contaminated water from an outdated water pan which is also shared with livestock heightening the risks of spreading of water-borne diseases like cholera and dysentery. “In the past, we used to ave some food reserves that kept…
Our 2018 report highlights some of our key achievements in line with our mission to improve the well-being of vulnerable arid and semi-arid land communities through sustainable development. Download report here: Annual Report 2018 Narrative Annual Report 2018 Operational Outputs Lack of adequate water was the main constraint to sustainable livelihoods in many parts of the county. In other areas, rapid run-off during the 2018 rainy season resulted into high proportion going to waste or becoming destructive. Conflict further limited livelihood options and shared management of natural resources, compounding vulnerability and decreasing resilience. “Conflict resolution and peaceful coexistence are integral components of PACIDA’s thematic programming in northern Kenya. This includes border counties with hardship and volatile environments as well as Ethiopia’s southern regions,” says Patrick Katelo, Executive Director of PACIDA. PACIDA reached 480,000 livestock during mass deworming and treatment in Marsabit County. In Illeret, the first ever butchery…
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