Maji Salama: providing clean water for Kenya

How much water do you think you use on a day-to-day basis? Five litres? Ten, perhaps?

The UN have suggested that each person requires between twenty and fifty litres of clean water to fulfil the most basic of needs – drinking, cooking, cleaning. It’s something we all take for granted, as much here as anywhere in the Western world. In less developed countries, a clean water source is so often the difference between life and death, particularly when it is integral to livelihood as well as sustenance.

That’s certainly the case in Kenya, where decades of water scarcity has taken its toll, and urbanisation has rapidly outstripped resources and facilities. Two in five Kenyans cannot get hold of safe water supplies, and only one for every three is able to access improved sanitation. The statistics make for concerning reading, but the reality is that people are succumbing to illness and disease every day.

There is, however, a solution. North East-based charity Maji Salama has been present in eastern Africa for over two years, working with local communities and organisations to treat contaminated water, potentially saving the lives of thousands of men, women and children in the region.

How do they do it? With an innovative but simple water filter, designed and manufactured here in the North East. The Aquafilter is portable, efficient and easy to use, requiring no external power or disposables. These filters have been put to great use in the last five years by a host of major charities, not least the Red Cross, and Maji Salama is working to get them into households and communities across Kenya.

Wade Financial has recently been involved with another project on the continent, providing the requisite funds and support to construct a classroom for underpriveleged children in one of South Africa’s most poverty-stricken catchment areas, and were similarly keen on making a difference with the water purification charity.

“One of my clients and good friends is a trustee at Maji Salama, and when she relayed the information to me about child death rates from water-related diseases, I was horrified,” says Wade Financial’s Ian Little. “At Wades, we work with individuals who have their wealth and their health, and from there have the freedom to make their own lifestyle choices. People living in Kenya are deprived of those options. There is no alternative in many cases, which is why we are keen to get involved and change their lives and lifestyles in a positive way.”

To that end, we are providing the funds for an Aquafilter to be used within the community, institutions such as schools and clinics making the most of a clean, safe water supply. To provide this for a society costs just £200, while a smaller filter, shared among five households, is a fraction of the price at £25.

“For the cost of a new top or a the latest phone, you could actually save dozens, hundreds, thousands of lives,” Ian continues. “Not only that, you’re providing a base from which communities can build a better future for themselves. With Christmas fast approaching, can you think of a better gift than that?”

To help Maji Salama reach more people in Kenya, donate towards the cost of an Aquafilter via the Mydonate fundraising page here. All donations are greatly appreciated, and GiftAid is applicable.

To learn more about the work that Maji Salama do in communities across Kenya, visit http://www.majisalama.co.uk/our-communities.php.