A Year Later: Handidi Community

A year ago, generous donors helped protect Malezi Spring for Handidi 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, Jonathan Mutai, with you.

"Since the protection of this spring, we are drinking water without any worry because the spring is not exposed to agents of contamination like it was before," Mrs. Grace Malesi said.

Grace Malesi

The community members have embraced good sanitation and hygiene practices. Each homestead looks clean because they collect rubbish and dispose of it in their compost pits. Their water is clean since it is no longer exposed to agents of contamination. According to Grace, she has been practicing what we taught during training, and it has assisted her greatly in saving the money she used to spend to treat water-related sicknesses.

"We appreciate the work you did with us," she said.

All the people of Handidi are now accessing safe and clean water, free from forms of contamination. This is attributed to spring protection.

A picture from our monitoring visit in May 2018.

The spring protection 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.

"I used to miss several classes due to waterborne diseases which that were common in the area," Augustine Mateo, a 13-year-old student, said. "I personally thank WEWASAFO and The Water Project for considering our spring for protection. Since completion of the spring, I can't remember the last day or month I had a headache."

This functional spring protection in Handidi Community is changing many lives. 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.