Eleos Project helps Hanna Project find elusive water in arid 
Samburu area of Northern Kenya.

Hanna Project

In April, 2017, Eleos Project was contacted by the Hanna Project working in the Barsalinga area of northern Kenya. The Hanna Project is in the process of drilling three new boreholes (or water wells) for the Samburu people who live in this remote part of Kenya. The area where the Hanna Project plans to drill these new boreholes only receives 3-8 inches of rain per year and is very dry throughout the year -- so water is a huge challenge for the Samburu people. The Samburu women are walking many kilometers each day just to fetch water in this area, a task that takes most of their day.

Eleos Project was contacted after the Hanna Project drilled their first borehole. Unfortunately, this borehole did not produce any water. The Hanna Project staff in Kenya found us through one of our clean water partners.  After hearing of their struggles, we accepted the challenge to help them locate a suitable drilling location. The area where they would like to drill new boreholes covers a vast area -- this is similar to finding a needle in a haystack. We knew from the start that trying to determine the next drilling location would not be accomplished by conducting hydrogeological surveys on the ground. This process must be initiated many miles above the surface of the earth, from space actually. Using Google Earth satellite photos we were able to locate potential fractures on the surface of the earth in the area where they wanted the new boreholes.  After mapping these fractures, we were able to provide two strategic focus areas to conduct hydrogeological water surveys in the field. The field surveys confirmed the presence of groundwater, which led to a second drilling attempt in June. We are happy to report that after drilling to 120 meters at Lemore, this borehole is now producing 1,200 liters per hour. This new borehole will have a hand pump installed so the community can have access to clean water every day!

After the success at Lemore, we are now in the process of locating two additional drilling locations for the Hanna Project. These two additional drilling locations are scheduled to be drilled in August and God-willing will have the same success as Lemore.

We are so grateful that this technology exists and we are able to apply it in a country where over 17 million people do not have access to water. In addition, the 2017 drought in Kenya has heightened the need for water in this country.  In our opinion, we believe approximately half the boreholes drilled in Africa today are dry holes due to poor siting methods. Years ago when we started our own borehole drilling projects in Kenya we ran into the same challenges as the Hanna Project and started using this technology to improve our drilling success. We went from a success rate of only 50% to over 90% after we started using this technology. As an organization working in the water sector, we are thrilled to have access to this technology as a way to improve and transform lives in Kenya!