A Year Later: Emabungo Community

A year ago, generous donors helped protect Bondeni Spring for Emabungo Community in Western Kenya. The contributions of incredible monthly donors and others giving directly to The Water Promise allow teams to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the water project over time. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – we’re excited to share this one from our partner, Erick Wagaka, with you.

"The project has really fostered peaceful coexistence among spring users. Initially, people would quarrel with each other when they went to the spring because it was time-consuming to fetch water, the rest on the queue would become so impatient leading to scandals," Mr. Maurice Acheka, a spring committee member, said.

"The spring protection eased the congestion and reconciled members one to another."

The spring beneficiaries now boast of stable income due to increased venture in rental social enterprises. The spring water supports owners of residential units to attract students from Maseno University, who find Ebulako-Emabungo Village to be friendly for them, free from noise disturbance, and suitable for their studies. Bondeni Spring is a pulling factor because tenants get free water from the spring.

Consequently, small-scale business owners have increased sales because of students who are reliable buyers of their goods such as tomatoes, kales, onions and cooking oil to name a few.

"Personally, I love to come to the spring to help my mother to fetch water because she needs a lot of clean water to care for our young baby," Angel Makokha, a 12-year-old girl, said.

Protection of this spring is only one step along the journey toward sustainable access to clean water. The Water Project and WEWASAFO (our trusted local partner) are committed to consistent monitoring of each water source. Our monitoring and evaluation program, made possible by donors like you, allows us to maintain our relationships with communities by visiting up to 4 times each year to ensure that the water points are safe and reliable.

This is just one of the many ways that we monitor projects and communicate with you. Additionally, you can always check the functionality status and our project map to see how all of our water points are performing, based on our consistent monitoring data.

One project is just a drop in the bucket towards ending the global water crisis, but the ripple effects of this project are truly astounding. This functional spring in Emabungo Community is changing many lives.

The community was quick to notice the stroke of fortune brought by protecting Bondeni Spring. It is a unique selling point for the community, attracting many tenants who in turn make recommendations to their friends. 

This is only possible because of the web of support and trust built between The Water Project, WEWASAFO, the community, and you. We are excited to stay in touch with this community and support their journey with safe water.

Read more about The Water Promise and how you can help.