Feb 24th, 2017: Water Boy

[xoxoxoBruce]

Climate change has brought drought to Kenya's Tsavo West National Park, the water holes have dried up
and animals dying of thirst. Enter Pea farmer, Patrick Kilonzo Mwalua, AKA the water man.

♫ Listen to the sloshing, the rumble and the roar
Struggling over parched dry land is a daily chore ♪
♫ Seeing the rush of water, hear the critters call
Hauling in a rented truck, the gift of life for all ♪



Mwalua fills the bone-dry watering holes in the region, driving for hours on end every day to haul water to
where it's most desperately needed. The holes themselves, lined with concrete, often need cleaning, Mwalua
blames it on buffalo droppings, and sometimes, he will just hose down an area of cracked earth for the
grateful animals. "The buffalo roll in the mud so they suffocate the fleas and ticks," he says.



"Last night, I found 500 buffalo waiting at the water hole," he says. "When I arrived they could smell
the water. The buffalo were so keen and coming close to us.
"They started drinking water while I was standing there. They get so excited."



Angie Brown in Connecticut, Cher Callaway in Utah, and Tami Calliope in Vermont, started a GoFundMe page
that’s raised $18,000 and hope to raise enough to buy him a truck.



Link