Youth are our future and our future depends on water. In the last Visions of Water, Visions of Life interview, students at the Kakamega School for the Deaf talked about water and life in Kenya. They were asked:
What do you believe is the solution to improve the water situation in your village?
They are hearing-impaired, so they drafted their answers on a chalkboard. Below is a glimpse into the daily life of these students. Some rainwater harvesting tanks were recently donated to their school, but after this source is depleted – during they dry season – they rely solely on river water. We thank them much for providing this information to the world.
Sheila Agufa
Agesa Silus
Daniel Milavi
Joseph Milongo
Are you a student that would like to get involved in water issues? Do you want to contact these students in Kenya? Please visit the ECAG Website. Or – to meet other youth interested in water issues – check out the YouthNoise DROP Campaign Website.
Water for the Ages 
The water problem in Africa is loss of water to aquatic weeds such as water hyacinth and typha. These weeds are dessication machines, drastically increasing evaporative losses in any body of water. These weeds are siltation machines, clogging lakes and streams until they are too shallow to survive. The weeds are a main driving force in desertification worldwide. Their reduction and control would help with flooding, cholera, malaria, yellow fever and Quelea, too. But the resilience of these weeds makes their control a never ending task, one that needs a profit to sustain it. Fortunately, they are all biomass. Typha is a particularly good fuel plant. If you have the money and equipment to inspect it for contaminants, it is also an excellent food plant. Such equipment is expensive, but not compared to food imports.
I went out to Africa last summer to search out places to do water projects. My first stop was the Kakamega school for the deaf. When I got there I realized these kids needed alot more than just water. There living conditions are horrible. I have worked alot in Africa mostly with orphans. These kids are treated worse because they are deaf. It is a very big problem, and they need all the help they can get.