“Water forms the core of our community investment at EABL Foundation as we believe that every person has a right to clean and safe water,” said Mr. Seni Adetu, chief guest at a World Water Day event at the Kariobangi Social Grounds in Nairobi on March 22, 2012. Mr. Adetu, the Managing Director of East Africa Breweries Limited (EABL) Foundation, said that the Foundation was committed fulfilling its mandate as a good corporate citizen by giving back to communities where it operates and would address the need for clean water in Kariobangi in partnership with Global Peace Foundation Kenya, Nairobi City Council, and Nairobi City Water and Sewerage Company.
The commemoration of the World Water Day in Kariobangi, a settlement with difficult challenges in obtaining clean water, came as a result of the needs assessment conducted by Global Peace Foundation Kenya in May 2011 as part of a Community Driven Development (CDD) project. Among the three top priorities—sanitation, health and security—the survey identified sanitation as a top priority.
The water reservoir at the Kariobangi Health Centre currently serves about 250 people per day but lacks adequate water and sanitation facilities. Typhoid, cholera, dysentery, parasitic bilhazia, and diarrhea are frequently treated in the Kariobangi Health Centre as a result of water contamination.
The EABL Foundation has committed $9,000 in support of the CDD initiative to erect the four additional water facilities. Two tanks have been installed at the Kariobangi Health Centre and the two additional tanks will be placed in densely populated areas of Darfur in Korogocho and at a Kariobangi light industry site to alleviate clean water shortages in Kariobangi.
The theme of the day, “Water and Food Security,” was coined by the United Nations to focus attention on the importance of freshwater and sustainable management of freshwater resources. Invited guests included Regional Chairman of Global Peace Foundation Kenya Dr. Manu Chandaria; Deputy Town Clerk of Nairobi Mr. Saruni Olekudate; and GPF African Regional Representative Mr. Insu Choi.
The EABL Foundation is sponsoring a capacity building workshop in April 2012 to further educate community members on water conservation methods.