You were there…all of you who have cared to support Water Is Life – Kenya. You were with us this past August at the Imisigyio Well site for the dedication and celebration for the fresh water this well brings to thousands of people everyday.

We drove for hours through the semi arid, dusty, parched earth savannas across Amboseli National Park. We passed elephant, hyena, giraffe, zebra, up terrain that seemed impossible to travel on even for our 12 seat Toyota Land Cruiser. Except for us there were no people in site.

Up we drove across crevassed trails carved deep into the earth by empty riverbanks where rains haven’t fallen in what seemed an eternity. We asked how could people live in such a difficult environment?

Up still steeper our land cruiser climbed only minutes from Imisigyio. We were greeted by another jeep full of Maasai going to the celebration whose axel broke from the rough terrain. We all got out and walked as the drivers worked to pull the jeep the rest of the way into the village of Imisigyio.

As we hiked through the scrub brush and inches deep chalky, trails we were greeted by the voices of hundreds, of Maasai women and children running toward us to welcome us singing, smiling, waving.
Again, you too were there with us.

Up ahead colored cloth made up a makeshift quillwork Thank-You tent and stage. It was dressed for the celebration with all these dear people had, all to say “Thank you”.

We were greeted with speeches Praising God and Thanking all of us who gave to put this well, pump, pump house and tank system in place. Seven choirs came from each of the churches with voices lifted up thanking God for the kindness of the Imisigyio well! They sang songs including one called, “Water Is Life”. Children danced and smiled and giggled, thanking us all from Water Is Life for Joyce and for all the work we did together. It was truly one of the most beautiful, honest, human expressions of thanks I have ever witnessed!

They fed us, again sharing all they had. From so little, they gave so much! Ugali a sort of oatmeal like dish made from crushed corn and goat and crates of warm coke… it was delicious as it was full of love and thanksgiving!

Because of the water the Imisigyio well brings life can go forward. Thousands of lives are forever changed for the better and in your name we were there to share this day. Thank you for continuing to touch the lives of so many!

Mark Manniso

This entry was posted on Monday, November 2nd, 2009 at 9:20 pm and is filed under Uncategorized. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Responses are currently closed, but you can trackback from your own site.