Montana on a Mission’s first water token kiosk is up and running at the Ripoi community well! A very exciting opportunity. This technology allows community members to fetch clean water from the kiosk, paying a very small fee (less than $1) each month that goes into an account for the community. They will then have money for maintenance and repairs of the project as well as saving money for other community projects, such as schools!
Here’s how it works: A member of each family in the community registers for an e-token with our area manager. The tokens can be loaded with an amount of credit through the community member’s phone. I know it sounds crazy, but the people in Kenya are used to using mobile money technology, similar to Venmo or PayPal. Once they have credit on their token they just wave it at the kiosk and either press the button for water from the tap, or another button which directs the water into the livestock troughs. The amount of water they use is deducted from their balance on the token. All of this money goes electronically into an account that will be owned by the community. The project security guard’s monthly pay comes out of this account, a portion of the account will be set aside for maintenance and repairs at the project, and the growing balance can be used by the community for projects such as schools!
