Photo comp: Derrick Esther Mukami Mutwiri, Kenya
Derrick Esther Mukami Mutwiri
Award Level:
Gold
Favourite memory of the Award:
Interacting with the pupils from the school and being taught how to carry the jerrycans on my head and balance the jerrycan on my back which amazed me since I come from a community that uses donkeys to carry water from the stream.
Age:
17
Biggest challenge from doing the Award:
The biggest challenge was language barrier. Being a student who can only speak in English and Swahili with a little bit of French, I found it difficult to communicate and interact with the locals since they mainly used their local dialect. However, this also served as an inspiration since it was a beautiful site seeing those beautiful kids conversing in their mother tongue fluently when I can't even greet someone in my own mother tongue.
Country:
Kenya
Have you continued any of your Award activities? If so, what:
Yes, the Residential Project is actually a continuous project that will continue. We are planning to buy some storage tanks for the school to use during the very dry seasons.
Tell us the story behind your photo:
The photo is me carrying a 20 litre jerrycan of water on my back. This was during the Gold Residential Project. The project involved helping a school in a community where access of water is almost impossible and we had gone there to build a borehole for them. Upon arrival we requested to see where they fetch their water from and that's when they showed us the small stream they fetch from. The kids from the school who are only about 8 to 12 years wake up early to go fetch water on the stream which is about a kilometre from the school. The distance is quite short but the terrain is hilly and tough for those young kiddos. Coming from a place where I only have to turn on a tap and I have water, this was quite awakening and at that very moment I saw the impact of the project. After the five days project I was happy to see the genuine smiles from those faces.
Award Role:
Participant