In Africa my work is to catch rain, elsewhere it is to light fires, to inspire people to help secure reliable sources of clean drinking water for everyone in need, especially children, who are most at risk to waterborne diseases. If you are moved to give a valentine to Kenya, there are three components needed for the successful completion of this project: Water Storage tanks $500-each; Katadyn water filters-$250 each and rain gutters-$250 per structure. We will set up as many RainCatchers as we receive funding for. To participate email jack@raincatcher.org and I’ll give directions for electronic funds transfer to Kentainers in Nairobi.

Remembering my last trip to Africa
I have never met a happier or more alive people. The ones who appear to have little have something we often lack — a sparkle, a smile, an openness, an ease, a faith, a way, all connected to some deeper well. To be there, to live there, in friendship, is like coming home. I went to Africa thinking I had something they needed. I returned with the knowledge that it is us who need Africa. My new pastime, therefore, is simply to encourage everyone I know and love, and the new friends I meet, to somehow get to Africa. It’s impossible to visit Africa and not be changed for the better. I will do what I can to help people have a safe and fulfilling journey to Africa, Africa will do the rest. Consider this the first installment of your invitation to Africa.

Average annual rainfall

March/April/May: Kenya/Tanzania/Uganda – long rain = 19 inches

Nov/Dec/Jan : Kenya/Tanzania/Uganda – short rain = 8 inches

Nov through March: Johannesburg/South Africa – rainy season = 17 inches

The East African equatorial highlands include Kenya, Tanzania, Uganda, the three countries that surround Lake Victoria, headwaters of the Nile. This region enjoys two rainy seasons: the long rain is March/April/May; the short rain occurs in Nov/Dec/Jan.

Johannesburg’s rainy season is summer, from Nov to March.

Average rainfall:

Kenya: long rain – March-140mm…April-191mm…May-155mm
short rain – November-86mm…December-102mm

Johannesburg: summer – Nov-117mm…Dec-105mm…Jan-125mm…Feb-125mm…Mar-91mm

NAIROBI: It won’t be military muscle that settles a centuries-old struggle for access to the Nile. Instead, armies of engineers and financiers will slake the thirst of a war-ravaged region where generations of leaders have tended to arbitrate access to water at the point of a gun. That is the gentle vision of experts trying this week to defuse a potential source of 21st century conflict running up the spine of Africa from the Great Lakes to the Mediterranean.

Problem

Suffering deforestation, soil erosion and erratic rainfall, east African nations fiercely oppose a colonial-era pact giving effective control of the 6,741 km (4,189 mile)-long Nile and its African origins to Egyptian users far downstream. Egypt, in turn, has long challenged any initiative that would squeeze the flow of the Nile to its frontiers. In a turnaround, the governments of the 10 Nile Basin nations this week said a cooperative solution may be in sight.

Solution

Gathering with bankers and aid agencies at a conference in Nairobi, the 10 governments set aside old rivalries to explore cross-border ventures in energy and irrigation to improve collection of rainwater, most of which is currently wasted. “We accept that sustainable management and development of the Nile Basin can only be guaranteed through cooperation,” Kenyan Vice President Moody Awori told delegates. The idea is that the ventures, due to start in the next two years, will please politicians by bringing more power and irrigation to Africa’s farmers and businesses. Tapping presently unharvested rainwater, they should not hit Nile levels.

“The restructuring of cooperation across this basin has taken several years and will take several more years,” David Grey, senior water resources advisor at the World Bank said. “The imperative meanwhile is to get results on the ground, put in development projects and show benefits to poor people.” Arab Power Egypt says it is ready to provide technical and financial help to impoverished upstream countries for investment in watershed management, irrigation and water storage systems…. To date, few outside a cabal of technicians and development agencies seem aware of the inventive solutions these experts are devising for the rapidly growing region of 300 million people….

Some governments now accept they need to do a better job of informing their people about the brightening outlook for water.