Giving Update: Luvambo Community, Timona Spring

Stepping into the Luvambo community near Timona Spring, you are welcomed by a clean environment. The area is very green, in part due to the fields of sugarcane and maize blanketing the area. Sanitation in the area has improved as evidenced by the dishracks, clotheslines, and tippy taps for handwashing placed next to families' pit latrines that we observed as we walked through the village and visited different households.

Ever since its protection last year, drawing water from Timona Spring for community members in Luvambo has been made easy as they need only place their containers under the discharge pipe and within no time the container is full Before the spring was protected, every time people went to fetch water from Timona Spring, they had to carry smaller container for filling the bigger one by scooping water from the open source. This was a time-consuming process that easily dirtied the water while collecting it.

Madam Mercy Anyango, a water user we interviewed at Timona Spring on our most recent visit, could not hide her joy about the project. Mercy explained how happy she was because she no longer has to wake up early in the morning just to go and collect water. Initially, water collected early in the morning was considered safest for drinking because it was less muddied and disturbed than later in the day. But now, safe water is drawn at one's convenience without compromising its quality.

Madam Anyango with her baby and Field Officer Wilson Kipchoge at the spring

"Drawing water from this water source after implementation is very enjoyable to us and we are so happy because we no longer dirty [the] water in [the] process. More so, the waterborne diseases reported earlier and the tortoise which had invaded the spring together with frogs have been curbed through the construction of this spring. We are very thankful for...our spring for protection," added Mercy.

12-year-old Tabitha Sunguti also shared her thoughts on how this project has impacted her life as a young girl often responsible for fetching water for her and her family's needs.

"The spring has really helped us get access to safe, clean water. The firewood we fetch is now only for cooking, unlike before where a lot of firewood could be used in boiling water for drinking keeping in mind that firewood is currently a precious thing. Besides that, we do save time when fetching water from this water source which has enabled us [to] help our parents in other household chores."

Tabitha smiles at the spring