BRIEFS First Person
I grew up in Limuru, a teaproducing town in central Kenya surrounded by verdant hills and jungles. That's not typical of Kenya: the IUCN classes 80% of its lands as arid and semi-arid (ASAL).
When studying community development and project management at Chuka University in Tharaka-Nithi County, a dry, rural area on the eastern slopes of Mount Kenya, I was shocked to meet people struggling with water scarcity because I I fetched water from a nearby river, which often contained lots of silt, colouring it brown. When the river dried up, I had to walk for half a day just for 20 litres of water.
