Clean, accessible, reliable water doesn’t change anything – it changes everything

Field Officer Laura Alulu noted many differences in Emukangu Community, Kenya since her first visit there. “This is a promising group,” she said.

“Before this project was completed, getting water here was a real hustle,” said Roselyne Khasungu, a 35-year-old farmer and mother. Roselyne depends on Okhaso Spring for water, which our teams helped transform into a protected spring with flowing water in the spring of 2021.

Roselyne waves from the spring.

According to Roselyne, the protected spring and the experience of fetching water are unrecognizable compared to when our team first arrived, and that’s a good thing.

“There was a lot of overcrowding and quarreling,” Roselyne explained. “This is because using a container made the water dirty. A lot of time was wasted waiting for the water to settle down.”

She continued: “In a place where there is overcrowding, especially where women and children are the majority, quarreling is not exceptional. Personally, my home is near the spring, so I watched a lot of fights and tried to wait until it was very late or go very early to avoid issues.”

Fetching water from the unprotected spring was a messy, time-consuming, and conflict-ridden process.

Godfrey, a young primary school-aged boy in the community, recalled the spring’s past state. “One, the water was not clean because of the way we used to fetch it. Two, we used to suffer a lot just to get water. This is because there was a lot of overcrowding and struggle. For me as a child, this scared me because sometimes people could even fight.

“Three, there was a lot of time-wasting; one needed to spend a lot of time at the water point before getting water. This sometimes brought me problems at home because I could end up not doing all the chores my parents left, and this annoyed them when they returned home only to find that the work was not done as planned.”

Godfrey poses at the spring.

But now, all that has changed. The spring was once a source of dread for those who had to wait alongside its edges for hours. Now it’s a giver of opportunity.

“Indeed, water is life,” said Godfrey.

“Getting water from this water point has become so much easier,” Godfrey continued. “I love going to fetch water every time. I am sure of getting clean water. Also, nowadays I hardly get people struggling at this water point with no more time-wasting.”

Although fetching water has become easier, that’s not the end of the story. Actually, it’s just the beginning.

Community members celebrate the completion of Okhaso Spring (pre-COVID)

“This waterpoint has helped me achieve so much,” Roselyne said. “First of all, my family is glowing because they get plenty of clean water that they use to drink, wash, bathe, and cook. Having clean water in the home makes everything clean; the sanitation standards in my home have gone up.”

“As I walk through this community, I notice a lot has changed in terms of hygiene and sanitation,” said field officer Laura Alulu. “The community members are now practicing proper waste disposal, like the animal waste is well recycled and used as farmyard manure. Another thing I notice is the handwashing stations: almost every homestead has a handwashing station outside the home and at the latrines. The community members are using latrines and not bushes or sugarcane plantations like before.”

Those are just the surface-level changes that Laura could see, but the shift in Emukangu Community goes much deeper.

“As a farmer, I rear different animals, so this water point has helped me to feed my livestock and supply them with clean water from the spring,” Roselyne said. “My everyday work has also improved since I get enough time to concentrate on my business, unlike before when I would waste a lot of time looking for water. As a woman, I have to ensure that before leaving the house, there is clean water so that when I come back, my work becomes easy. All these plans are achieved because of this project.”

Godfrey’s life has also changed dramatically. “I can do all [my] planned work on time, since a lot of [it] involves using water e.g., cleaning the house, giving water to the livestock, etc. Another way this has impacted my life is that we now live as good neighbors. No more fights and quarreling.”

Godfrey also mentioned that there is no more waterborne illness in the community. Now, all that money that once was spent on medicine or hospital visits can be channeled toward more productive causes.

“My children also enjoy carrying water from the spring and giving it to the livestock,” Roselyne added. “They have become more responsible.”

“I have no reason of delaying to do my work,” Godfrey explained. “I am able to accomplish my tasks and also get some time to play and socialize with my friends, then later on embark on my studies.”

Godfrey and Roselyne head home from the spring carrying water.

“They are happy,” Laura concluded. “They told me how this water has really brought back life to this community. They are very grateful for us honoring them so much and giving them clean and safe water. They are also so, so grateful that they were trained on COVID-19. They could never get anyone who cared for them this much to provide this important training. They are grateful.”