Rotary Club of Middleton project to provide irrigation in Kajuki

The Nithi River, in emergencies villagers would try to ford the river and many died as a result

The Rotary Club of Middleton project to provide irrigation in Kajuki, Kenya received a significant boost last week.

Elliot Inglis and his father Dale have been the prime movers behind many of the
water projects – even taking their appeal to the Blue Peter TV show. Their recent promotional activities have resulted in a £25,000 donation to Middleton Rotary from the Valentine Charitable Trust. This brings the total of funds raised so far to around £50,000.

With further support from the Rotary Foundation the funds to ensure the delivery of the irrigation project is now assured.

The project will harvest water from the fast‐flowing Nithi River and channel it to farmland several kilometres distant. In the wet season the force of the river will be enough to drive the water over rising ground to the farmland. When this proves insufficient, pumps will be activated to maintain the flow.

Middleton member Peter Hayward, acting as project manager to see the project through to its completion, has visited the site on a number of occasions and has commissioned local site surveys and an environmental impact analysis in preparation for gaining government approval to start work.

The Nithi River, which rises in the Mount Kenya National Park, used to claim as many as 50 lives each year near the Kenyan villages of Kajuki and Mutino. But a previous Middleton project to help fund a bridge allows villagers to cross the river safely, transforming the economies of the villages in the process.

Before the bridge was constructed, Mutino villagers had to make a 30 mile round trip journey to cross the river at a safe point, making it difficult to reach Kajuki for supplies and medical services.

Often in emergencies, villagers would try to ford the river, and many died as a result.