Worst drought in 60 years

It is unbearably hot in Turkana. Sand stretches for miles,
cactus plants wither, and dust replaces pasture. Sprawling empty
arid land stretches for miles. The worst drought in 60 years has
swept across the Horn of Africa, causing the death of children,
livestock and crops. Over 12 million people are affected by the
drought, including the residents of Turkana, a district in
north-west Kenya.

"I could walk up to four hours away from my house in search of
water," Alice Napong, a resident of Napadal village in northern
Turkana, says. She fastens her son to her back with a length of
cloth, places an empty container on her head, and reaches for a
small container with her right hand: "We have always had to search
for water, but it has never been this hard."

Weak health systems

The nearest health centre is many kilometres away, leaving the
pastoralist communities in remote areas of Turkana vulnerable. With
limited access to safe drinking water and essential health care,
waterborne and water-related diseases such as diarrhoea and cholera
are common challenges. Such diseases can be successfully treated
with oral rehydration solution and antibiotics but in regions like
Turkana, health centres are rare, and the few that exist lack basic
supplies and qualified health staff.

Worldwide, around 1.1 billion people lack access to safe water
sources and 2.4 billion have no basic sanitation. Waterborne
diseases are a leading cause of preventable deaths around the
world, and are among the five major causes of death in children
under the age of five.

Health promotion

"My five daughters are consistently suffering from diarrhoea,"
says Alice.

Alice and her children are one of many families who have
received treatment for diarrhoeal diseases from the International
Organization for Migration (IOM). In partnership with Kenya's
Ministry of Public Health and Sanitation, IOM's mobile medical
rapid response teams go to hard-to-reach mobile communities in
Turkana. Equipped with re-hydration sachets, chlorine water
treatment tablets, de-worming tablets, and drugs for common medical
conditions, the teams distribute much needed medication and conduct
mass de-worming campaigns.

Small changes can have a big impact. This has been proved by the
health and hygiene promotion talks that IOM is also running in
these communities. Sensitive to cultural practices and the need for
sustainability, IOM's health promotion campaign incorporates local
knowledge and indigenous solutions. For example, communities are
encouraged to wash their hands with ash, a local disinfectant that
is free and easily accessible. 55,000 vulnerable members of the
community are being targeted by IOM's outreach teams.

In 2009 and 2010, IOM dispatched four teams on similar missions
to crisis-affected communities in Kenya's Rift Valley, Western, and
Nyanza provinces that were struggling to prevent and fight against
waterborne diseases. Over 492,000 people benefited.

According to Grace Khaguli, Field Coordinator for IOM's
emergency health project in Turkana: "Due to the scale of the
drought, water is scarce. This makes Alice Napong and her daughters
more inclined to drink dirty, unsafe water. What is happening to
them is replicated in households across Turkana. Residents use
contaminated water and the area has very few toilets, which
contributes to improper waste disposal."

Senior Elder, Echepan Ngelecha, a community leader in Nadapal
Village, says: "In our culture, we divide illnesses into those
caused by God and those caused by Ngidekesiney ka ekapilan
(witchcraft). Thanks to IOM, we are now aware that we can do
certain things to prevent illnesses. This partnership needs to
continue because it takes time to change behaviour, like
remembering to use ash when we wash our hands, in order to prevent
the spread of diseases."