Kenya
Western Kenya Program
In 2016, The Water Project’s Western Kenya water and sanitation program continued focus in Kakemega & Vihiga Counties. Our work in this region brings together two local partners (Western Water and Sanitation Forum & Safe Water and Sustainable Hygiene Initiative), each with their own skillset in providing community water systems. Together, we’re able to provide rainwater harvesting solutions, protect springs, drill and repair wells, and offer community and institutional sanitation solutions. This approach means we are not limited by technology; rather, we are able to partner with a community first, and determine which water solution is most appropriate based on their individual needs. In all, 69 communities and 49 schools were able to experience clean water for the first time.
The Water Project’s pilot on remote hand-pump sensors continued. These sensors allowed us to monitor usage and were to provide front line notification of any downtime. In 2016, sensor data allowed us to see a clear correlation between hand-pump usage and weather. During periods of rain, usage of hand-pumps went down significantly as community members utilized rain catchment. This has important implications for our overall health and sanitation training, and also reinforced the importance and practicality of our rainwater harvesting solutions. Sensors have come with their own reliability and uptime challenges, and we continue to weigh the costs and benefits of sensors to our parallel, robust mobile monitoring program.
Southeastern Kenya Program
In 2016, The Water Project’s Southeastern Kenya water and sanitation program (in coordination with our partner Africa Sand Dam Foundation) continued focus in farming communities and schools in Makueni, Machakos and Kitui Counties. These areas continue to suffer from long-standing drought, and our water program creates stable water access through the construction of sand dams, wells and large rainwater harvesting projects. 41 community water projects (sand dams and wells) were completed and 6 rainwater harvesting projects were implemented at schools. The Water Project expanded our hygiene and sanitation training program through additional staff and water testing equipment.
Uganda
The Water Project’s Western Uganda water and sanitation program continued focus in Masindi and Kirondongo Districts. Through our partnership with The Water Trust, 13 communities now have access to clean water through the construction of wells and protection of springs. To prove commitment to their own health, each community made sure 100% of households had proper latrines prior to the installation of the new water project.
Sierra Leone
Our program with Mariatu’s Hope, focused in the Port Loko area, provided 20 communities and 2 schools with first time water access. Over 130 other communities continue to receive ongoing support and service from our program, and over 40 existing projects were repaired and/or upgraded to keep water flowing.
A robust monitoring program taught us a lot about the true water situation in Sierra Leone. For example, we’ve learned that many existing hand-dug wells actually go dry during the rainy season, not the dry season. Practical monitoring data keeps water flowing for communities, and is also informing some exciting, innovative strategy for 2017.
