Kenyan women and girls in remote villages are some of the people to bear the brunt of the exit of the United States Agency for International Development (USAID). Some have begun to trek, as they used to do in the past, for up to 10 kilometers (6 miles) to gather water for drinking and other domestic uses.
USAID had funded water and sanitation systems in marginalized communities to help Kenya meet Sustainable Development Goals, including goal six on availability of water and sanitation for all by 2030.
President Trump’s executive order to close USAID operations worldwide will increase illiteracy in Kenya’s remote villages as girls as young as 6 will have to drop out of schools to join their mothers in seeking water.
Traditionally, kitchen work—including gathering water and firewood—is among the primary duties of women and girls in Kenyan communities. These are some of many traditions that have remained in practice for centuries.
“We live like wildlife, relying on any drop of water to drink and prepare meals. Sometimes we apply our traditional practice of extracting and drinking the blood of our livestock due to lack of water,” said Anne Kassait, a resident of Nginyang village in Baringo County.
Kassait said she carries a 20-litre Jerrycan on her back and a baby on her side, walking 10 kilometers every day to a water pan in Merkalei. It is the only source of water for more than 5,000 people, hundreds of wildlife, and thousands of livestock.
Here, she finds dozens of other women gathering water as hundreds of livestock drink from the same source and drop their waste. “People in this and other villages drink contaminated water,” she said. “As you can see, the water is brown and heavier than normal, due to mud and animal waste.”
She adds: “A third of the 20-litre Jerrycan is mud and animal waste. The remaining cannot sustain my family for two days, so I have to come again the next day. Bathing, in dry spells, is a luxury that women here cannot afford. We bathe once a week and sometimes go for weeks.”
The water problem in Nginyang village is an example of a wider problem people experience in more than half of the 47 counties in Kenya. The village, about 320kms (199 miles) north of Kenya’s capital, Nairobi, is named after the Nginyang River.
According to a report by the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics in 2022, counties with the lowest household population with access to basic drinking water, Kitui leads with 21 percent, compared to a 68 percent national average. Others are Baringo (39%), Samburu (29%), Turkana (42%), and West Pokot (38%).
These are some of the problems the USAID was alleviating, especially in arid and semi-arid land areas, including Baringo, Garissa, Isiolo, Kitui, Makueni, Marsabit, Samburu, Turkana, Wajir, and West Pokot counties.
“The USAID was our hope and savior in provision of water, through funding of water-related projects, such as water pans and boreholes drilling, construction of water tanks and supply of plastic tanks for rainwater harvest,” said Grace Wambua, a teacher in Kitui County.
In March 2023, USAID launched more than $100 million for water, sanitation, and hygiene projects in the country. The program, which was to run for five years, is now grounded by Trump’s signature.
USAID was problem-centered. Its projects have alleviated the suffering of marginalized people in the country. “Even illiterate people in villages know the USAID more than they know the Kenya government, which has no impact in the villages,” said a village elder, Anthony Punden.
Punden said people of his village are worried that life will not be the same again without USAID. He adds that Roman Catholic and Anglican churches have done their best in helping communities through drilling of boreholes, water pans, and small dams, but they are overwhelmed by limited resources.
He further says that his people are prayerful and hope that God will change Trump’s mind and reinstate USAID operations.
“We are forgotten people, and our government does not care about us,” Punden said. “It is connecting a fuel pipeline from Lamu County in Kenya to South Sudan and Ethiopia, about 1,800 kilometers (1,118 miles) away, but it cannot connect for us piped water from Marigat, 60kms (37 miles) from here.”
He was referring to the Lamu Port-South Sudan-Ethiopia-Transport Corridor project, in which Kenya is a partner state and project host.
Some Kenyans side with President Trump because he was elected by a majority in the 2024 election, and adding that his actions are for the benefit of American citizens.
“Kenyans must stop blaming Trump but fight corruption in our government,” said John Wasike, a retired water engineer. “In January 2021, President Uhuru Kenyatta admitted that the country was losing 2 billion Kenyan shillings, about U.S. $20 million per day, to corruption.”
He added: “The Kenya Association of Manufacturers, in November 2024, also added its voice, saying that the country was not losing U.S. $20 million, but $30 million, to corruption per day. Where does Trump come in here?”
In January, former Kenyan President Uhuru Kenyatta told African leaders to stop complaining about Trump. “I saw some people crying the other day that Trump has withdrawn aid. Why are you crying? It is not your country. He has no reason to give you anything, and you do not pay taxes in America.”
Daniel Sitole is a freelance journalist in Kenya. His stories have appeared in newspapers and magazines in many countries, including Canada, South Africa, the United Kingdom, and the United States.
