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Workers behind first Water2life-project in Kenya

A cup, a toothbrush or a piece of hand soap. Small things in most people’s lives. Maybe even things that we take for granted. And for sure things that only work with water.

Millions of people in the world do not have access to safe and running water. In Africa, for instance, access to safe water often means the difference between life and death, says Ann Akopi from Kambi ya Juu. She must, every morning, walk across the bush to fetch yellowish brown water from the stream before her kids or the sun are even up.

- The water isn’t clean. The people who live up the hill wash both themselves and their clothes in the brook. If we are not careful to boil the water, we will get sick, she says.

Ann Akopi and the around 3,000 other inhabitants of Kambi ya Juu have fetched water from the stream since the water supply to Kambi ya Juu was cut off ten years ago. But now a new water system will provide them with access to water as part of the Water2life programme.

Water2life is based on Grundfos’ Lifelink system, which consists of a water pump driven by solar energy. When Ann Akopi and the others of Kambi ya Juu need water, they pay for it via their mobile phones. They only pay for the water they use.

The idea was generated and partly financed amongst the workers of Grundfos. To carry out the project, a new partnership between Red Gross and Grundfos has been established, says Barasa Mabonga, representative from Kenyan Red Cross.

-I believe that LifeLink is representing a new way to a sustainable water supply. It is no doubt the best system, I’ve ever seen.

On this Tuesday, safe water will once again be running in Kambi ya Juu, and there, to cut the red ribbon, is Henriette Nygaard, a book-keeping assistant, who has been chosen to represent all workers of Grundfos.
- We have all been part of this project, and it has been very important for me personally to see that our efforts are making a real difference, tells Henriette Nygaard.

The official opening of the first Water2life project will take place in Kambi ya Juu at 10.00 a.m on October 26. – Geographical coordinates are 0° 20' 0" North, 37° 34' 0" East.

For further information please contact programme coordinator, Louise Koch, +45 40244207 or Red Cross Communications Consultant, Kirsten Marie Kristensen, +45 22600250.

Please feel free to visit
> www.water2life.net