Rehabilitation Project
This project is part of Bridge Water Project's program in Western Kenya. What follows is direct from them:
BACKGROUND
The proposed Shikhambi United Pentecostal Church (UPC) Water project is a Kenya Finland Western Water Supply Program (KFWWSP) drilled in 1986 with an aim of making clean water available and accessible to Shikhambi community members. The well records a total depth of 40M cased with 4 inch UPVC casing, water rest level at 20M. The well was equipped with an Afriddev pump, which worked up until 2007 and was vandalized by unknown people during the post election violence.
Since then whenever the church has big gathering like conferences or youth rallies they have to hire people to fetch water for cooking and domestic use. This money could be better spent on serving the poor. Also, community members have to walk 1KM to AMAMBIA spring to fetch water for their domestic needs, Among many challenges the community’s has, Access to quality water is the major problem.
The UPC counsel and the village elders made an application to Bridge Water Project (BWP) requesting if BWP can consider rehabilitating their vandalized well to enable them access to quality water.
CURRENT WATER SOURCE
The UPC church and the entire community currently fetch water from Amambia spring and Lwatingu river. Both are 1KM away from the church and the water quality is not good, it records a turbidity value of 60 below the recommended World Health Organization parameters.
BWP interviewed church members / communities showed that most of them suffer from water borne diseases i.e. typhoid, amoeba, and diarrhea due to the unsafe water they drink.
POPULATION
The United Pentecostal Church has a membership of 100 people while the community has 80 household with an average of 6-10 people per house approximating 900 people. (Editor's Note: While this many people may have access on any given day, realistically a single water source can only support a population of 350-500 people. This community would be a good candidate for a second project in the future so adequate water is available. To learn more, click here.)
HYGIENE & SANITATION
The church has 4 permanent pit latrines (12 doors) with bathrooms which are washed on rare cases. The church compound is clean with a compost pit where litters are dumped. Most homes around have pit latrines, clothes lines and dish racks. However water storage facilities in most homes are not cleaned to the required standards.
There are no hand washing stations in the church compound nor in the community households.
ASSESSING THE NEED
There is need to rehabilitate the proposed UPC failed well so as to enable the church and the Shikhambi community members’ access quality water for their domestic use and also improve their sanitation and hygiene standards for better health
WATER COMMITTEE
The UPC church counsel and local administration are in the process of forming a management committee that would be responsible for the operation, maintenance of the supply to ensure sustainability that the BWP community education staff will train them on proper management before the implementation of the rehabilitation works.
