First Trip to the Ruhiira Cluster

Today was my first trip to the Ruhiira MVP cluster- about 45 minutes into the highlands. The topography looks like the Appalachians (I think as it's been awhile since I've seen them). Mountains with deep valleys. Lots of the tops are fairly bare as the people use firewood (if present for cooking- otherwise banana leaves). The valleys are densely planted, mostly with banana. The MAJOR issue is water supply. Lots of people live in the highlands, at the top of the mountains, while the water is lower into the valleys from springs and runoff. A huge part of the MVP program has been putting in infrastructure to get clean water (involves underground tunnels at the spring sites with protection above to protect against animal contamination). The next step will be to get water closer to the villages so a pump and lots of piping are planned in the near future. Women and girls are the ones to fetch water so imaging carrying a baby on your back, walking several kms to water, filling a 20 liter oblong jerry can, and climbing back up very steep paths with the jerry can on top of your head! It was hard enough climbing the path without a load! I also saw the SACCO (savings bank), primary school, 4 health centers, and a radio station. Amazing things are happening here! I'm just learning how to do this all so please bear with me. Starting at the top left-view from Ruhiira, women living at the hospital waiting for delivery, a clean water source, a solar powered computer lab.