ITF-Launches 1st JTP drinking tap water station in Uhuru Park
15th November 2016 marked a huge milestone for ITF as we launched the first ever Join the Pipe drinking tap water Station at Uhuru Park (The Nairobi’s recreational park). Building a drinking tap water station at the city centre had been a long term dream of ITF members and thanks to our esteemed partners: Join the Pipe, The Pollination Project and Nairobi City County, our dream became a reality.
The launching event was attended by Mr. Geraldo Vallen, the C.E.O; Join the Pipe, Ms. Beth Wanjiku, The Pollination Project Representative, and Ms. Anne Lokidor, Nairobi City County Executive Member. ITF volunteers and members were also in attendance led by their secretary General, Venuste Kubwimana.
Uhuru Park was the most suitable location for our first Join the Pipe drinking tap water station because we wanted to create a lasting solution to the lack of free clean drinking water at the park that is frequented by huge masses of people, majority being the youth. The main source of drinking water at the park was water bottles that were quite expensive and ultimately ended up littering the environment. Our main motivation for choosing Uhuru Park was not only to give the large number of park user’s access to clean drinking water but also to sensitize them on the importance of keeping the environment clean by getting rid of the plastic water bottles that used to litter the park.
To help in this activity, we invited students from Patriana Educational Centre who together with the other attendees cleaned the park by collecting all plastic materials that were later disposed off by the Nairobi County Government. This activity also drew the attention of park users who joined us in the clean up and sensitized them on the importance of keeping their environment clean. Everyone who participated in the cleanup was rewarded with an environmentally friendly Join the Pipe’s refillable water bottle that is made of BPA-free plastic material and distinguished with a Dutch Design Award.
A recent Monitoring and Evaluation survey conducted by our Projects Department reported that over 3000 city residents make use of the tap station weekly. Out of this number, more than 2000 users are the youth.
In the near future, we hope to build more tap stations at various points in the city center so that more city residents get access to free, clean drinking water as they go by their daily activities.We invite each of you to try out our JTP drinking tap water station at Uhuru Park and be more sensitive about keeping our environment clean by getting rid of plastic waste.