Kenya
| Full country name | Republic of Kenya | Republic of Ireland |
| Population | 39 million | 4.6 million |
| Area | 582,659 sq km | 70,273 sq km |
| Capital City | Nairobi | Dublin |
| Language | English, Kiswhaili | English, Irish |
| Religion | Christianity, Muslim, indigenous beliefs | Catholicism, Christianity |
| Life Expectancy | 58.82 | 78 |
| Living with HIV/AIDS | 1.2 million | 5,500 |
| Population below the poverty line | 50% | 4.2% |
Kenya, on the east coast of Africa, is the home to 35.6 million people. It is best known as a major safari destination and tourism is one of the country’s main income sources.
Despite its exotic animals and breathtaking beauty, it is still a country of deep-rooted poverty with the average household surviving on just US$2 per day.
World Vision has been active in Kenya since 1974 when we responded to a food crisis within the rural population. The majority of Kenyans live in rural areas and rely on agriculture for survival and this is where World Vision Ireland’s Mutonguni Area Development Programme is active today.
To find out more about Mutonguni, like how a fruit tree orchard transformed a school, click here.
Water crisis
The severe drought in Kenya has shown once again how crucial access to clean water is in terms of health, agriculture, livelihoods, education – life itself. Without water, crops will fail, families will go hungry and health issues escalate as communities have to revert to unsafe water sources. Even education suffers as children either don’t have the strength to go to school or can’t attend as they have to help find food for the family.
Thankfully today, 8,200 people in the Mutonguni area can now access a minimum of 15 litres of water per person per day during the dry season within 30 minutes of their home. This number has doubled since 2007 and is as a result of the work of water committees which are made up of community members trained by World Vision to plan, construct and, most importantly, protect the supply of safe water.
One such committee, the Kavoo Water Project which already serves three primary schools and 50 households, has used its World Vision training in book-keeping, budgeting, planning and proposal writing to help them apply for funding from the government and other organisations without our help. This kind of initiative is exactly what our work is about – giving communities the tools and confidence to go forward independently of World Vision or any NGO.
View World Vision Ireland ADP Mutonguni, Kenya in a larger map
