Water is Life

 Water is life! - Maji ni maisha!

What is man without animals? If all the animals were gone, man would die of great loneliness of spirit. Whatever happens to animals will soon happen to humans too. All things are connected (Chief Seattle).

I just saw the news. Since the wife of Ruto would be shown. She said something that affected me. Basically said: "... I go into the kitchen, take a jug, fill it with water, add salt, then I go to the Borhole, pour in the contents of the jug and the water is clear." (Forgive me if I'm not entirely accurate.)

Water is a big problem in Kenya and it's getting worse. Water is life! Everyone needs to drink daily to survive. But over a billion people around the world - a large proportion of them live in Africa - do not have access to clean drinking water. (global Natur.org). In Kenya, too, there is a lack of access to clean drinking water. According to the WHO / UNICEF Joint Monitoring Program (JMP) for water and sanitation in 2008, only 12% of all households in rural areas had a water connection.

Lake Victoria is a cloudy broth today. If you need clean water, you have to treat it or buy it - only a few can pay for it.

"The water is for drinking, cooking and washing. It's always dirty and cloudy," one can hear in Kenya." If we have enough money, we use medicine to make the water clean. If not, then we often have diarrhea.”

Johnny leave me follow Cynthia

And I don't know what to do

And he talk say I no do am

Like the way Cynthia dey do

Johnny give Uche belle

He talk say he wan marry Nene

Nwokem ke di fe neme

Johnny mo, Johnny mo

There is no shortage of water in western Kenya. But there is a huge deficit of clean drinking water. According to the NGO "Water Organization" from the USA, 40 percent of the almost 50 million Kenyans depend on unclean drinking water from rivers and lakes. In rural areas, water costs an average of 30 euros per month because it has to be chlorinated or transported from far away. About 65 percent of the population has a monthly income of no more than 90 euros (taz.de).

I'm looking for my Johnny eh

Where is my Johnny

johnny mo

Do you know Johnny...question

If I no see my Johnny

fefe gem

The problem is no coincidence, this lack of water is man-made. A big problem is that the trees would be felled. In addition, forests are destroyed because new building land is needed or because people are looking for firewood. As a result, the ground around rivers that lead to the lakes is no longer as solid.

The Mau forest is the water reservoir for large parts of Kenya and Tanzania. But it is threatened by decades of overexploitation. Several rivers have their source in the forest, including the Mara. But due to massive, illegal deforestation, the Mau forest can no longer properly fulfill its function. River water levels are falling because heavy rains are eroding the soil and flushing fertile soil into the rivers. In Kenya, volunteer environmentalists are trying to save the Mau forest - and with it an important water supply for Tanzania (riffreporter.de).

Another problem is climate change, which is hitting Kenya hard. In Turkana, a region roughly the size of Bavaria and not much smaller than Austria, it hardly ever rains. It has always been hot and dry here, but now the climatic conditions are becoming more severe. The rainy seasons are getting out of joint, there are more frequent droughts, but also flooding. While global temperatures have warmed by 0.8 degrees over the past century, in Turkana they have risen by 1.8 degrees in 50 years (Der Standart).

I'm looking for my Johnny

I'm looking for my honey...(ya ya ya)

You telling me this, you telling me that

I say this is not for me

Johnny do me conny

Johnny do me conny (Jo-Johnny)

He's doing me this

He's doing me that

But I no go tell mummy (mummy)

Outside of the rainy season, many rivers on Mount Kenya dry up. The people then dig holes in the river bed, in which only a little water collects, which is also dirty. They have worms, amoebic dysentery and diarrhea, and at night they have nightmares of not being able to find any water. (Bread for the World).

Hey go Canada

Hey go Tokyo

Yesterday he say he dey Morrocco

Hey dance disco

Hey sing Awilo

Well lie

Come on, come on Pinocchio

This one na gobe…ayakata

Original gobe

See me see wahala eh

The transfer of responsibility for drinking water and sanitation to the 47 newly created districts, which was introduced with the constitutional reform of 2010, and the right to adequate water and sanitation guaranteed in the constitution, pose enormous challenges for the sector. So far, only a small number of the districts have been able to meet the high expectations of the population with regard to improving public services and combating corruption in the administration (German Society for International Cooperation).

Hey get dollars

Hey get lobster

Hey dey drink palmi with Patience and Jonah

Hey dey Toronto

Hey dey Sokoto

Or the lie he dey lie

Hey dey sokoto...ha

This one na gobe eyeh…ayakata

Original gobe

See me see wahala eh

"Hope is something different from optimism. Hope takes things as tragically as they are, it doesn't accept false consolations or not taking suffering seriously. And yet hope says: We won't leave the future to despair." (Martin Schenk).

The people of Kenya have hope, but no optimism.

I'm looking for my Johnny eh..eh eh eh

Where is my Johnny

johnny mo

Do you know Johnny...question

If I no see my Johnny...ah

fefe gem

In Turkana in northern Kenya, everything has dried up, three rainy seasons have already failed. The lake is steadily shrinking, hundreds of square kilometers are now dry, and the water level continues to fall. It was probably five to seven meters in the past 30 years. Only a few animals from a large herd survived the drought. Only 42 goats survived. Of the 1,200 sheep and goats, nothing more remained. Turkana and several other regions are experiencing the worst drought in 40 years.

In recent months, people and their animals have been constantly fleeing from the drought and cattle rustlers with their guns. Because their sheep, goats and cattle were already weakened by the little food, many would not have survived the long distances. The semi-nomadic pastoralists depend on their animals for survival: They drink the milk, eat the meat or sell an animal when they need money. Those who have lost their herd will soon follow themselves.

I'm looking for my Johnny

Where is my Johnny

johnny mo

Do you know Johnny...question

If I no see my Johnny

Fefe geme ..eh

A gigantic Ethiopian dam is causing Lake Turkana in Kenya to dry up even further. Apart from numerous seasonal tributaries, Lake Turkana has only one permanent tributary, the Omo River. It rises in Ethiopia and feeds around 90 percent of the lake. But 600 kilometers upstream, the Ethiopians built a gigantic dam with the highest dam on the continent. The region is already considered one of the most violent in Africa - the conflicts would continue to intensify. The remaining resources - the fish, the water and the grazing land - are being fought bitterly like on the border between Kenya and Ethiopia. There is shooting, robbery and murder, and dozens of people, including many women and children, have lost their lives in just the past 12 months (Der Spiegel).

Pop Rosé, no more enemy iye eh eh

Pop champagne, no more complaining eh

If you de live for Kenya ooh, or anywhere in Africa eeh

Make you dey pop anything, cos all na popping

We driving Ferrari oh, cruising Bugatti oh

We rocking Versace oh, forever and ever eh

We going higher oh, we no go retire oh

We getting paper oh, this is my desire eh

Pop Rosé, no more enemies iye eh eh

Pop champagne, no more complaining eh

If you live for Kenya ooh, or anywhere in Africa eeh

Make dey pop everything because everything and popping

We drive Ferrari oh, cruise Bugatti oh

We rock Versace oh, forever and ever eh

We go higher oh we don't retire oh

We get paper oh that's my wish eh

And when it starts to rain, there is flooding.

Otherwise there were always floods, but they didn't last. Meanwhile the water is only rising. And it has already swallowed a lot. The extent of the flooding can be seen in the water, where a few houses stick out after a few meters. The waves dance around their roofs. The rest of them have perished. For many years, their biggest concern was that Lake Baringo would shrink and no longer support them. But now they fear nothing more than that it will spread further. Because in the past few months, the lake has burst its banks more and more. Now just help pray that he doesn't take everything with him. All people are afraid. The water keeps rising. Nobody knows if it will ever stop. When it gets here, there's nothing left for people to go to. Then they can only live like refugees in tents. The floods are a catastrophe for the people. The lake has now grown by 100 square kilometers and is now half the size of Lake Constance. Most cannot really explain this increase.

(Deutschewellekultur.de).

Another reason has to do with the geological features of the region. Several tectonic plates meet here.

In the East African Rift Valley have three tectonic plates that are responsible for the formation of the entire system. That's the Arabian plate, then the African plate, and there's another plate just forming, the Somali plate. These plates move away from each other. A process that would have taken place anyway, but is now happening much faster due to climate change and environmental problems.

When mountains are eroded and glaciers melt, a lot of water ends up in the oceans. This gives them more weight. The system must bring itself back into balance. We speak of an isostatic compensatory movement. Because the tectonic forces change, water is pushed up. It then runs into the lakes from below.

"...to overthrow all relationships in which man is a degraded, enslaved, abandoned, despicable being." (This is what Karl Marx writes in 1844).