Hello there. Pete Donaldson here! 



I've just returned from recording a radio show in a place called Kisumu, one of Kenya's fastest-growing cities. 



The charity Practical Action invited me to travel there to see their life-saving work in slums where young children die every single day from waterborne diseases - thanks to a lack of basic infrastructure such as access to water and hand-washing facilities. 

I saw first-hand how simple changes could improve things exponentially for people who had so little. Due to Kisumu's location on the banks of Lake Victoria, rudimentary toilets last mere months and effluvia runs in the streets and alleyways, poisoning water and people.

  

From the girl I met whose body was ravaged by malnutrition, unable to find the strength to stand for longer than a few minutes, to a young carer who couldn't provide clean food and water for her younger sister, affected by severe arthritis and HIV.  

The very least these three deserve is not having to sweep raw sewage from their homes every time it rains. The very least these three deserve is the chance to keep their hands and their food clean, giving them a fighting chance to maintain something approaching good health. 

After just a few days amongst these inspirational people who manage to do so much with so few resources, I had to set up a fundraising page to help.  Quite simply, a gift for Practical Action will save young people's lives.

Moreover, any gift you give will be matched pound for pound by the UK Government to help even more people. 


My target is to raise £10,100 which would enable the construction of 30 new water-points to provide clean water, train 100 carers of young children on proper handwashing practices and hygiene and train 15 community-based water operators on the maintenance and use of water points to ensure their sustainability. 

But every donation can help us achieve something tangible for children in Kisumu.


£11 could pay for a metre of iron piping for clean water supply (including the excavation of trench joining of the pipe, backfilling the water pipeline trench and clearing the site).

£55 could pay hand washing equipment for a school.

£600 could buy water storage tanks holding 5000 litres of clean water for schools or at least 8 households.

£1,120 could pay for the construction of two toilets with lined pits (maintained by the community - meaning they will last years.) 

Please give generously. If you know me, you'll know I rarely ask for help with anything like this, so you know this means a bunch.  Thanks so much. Pete x