June, 2021: Wizula Spring Project Complete!

Shamakhokho Community now has access to clean water! We transformed Wizula Spring into a flowing source of water, thanks to your donation. Our team protected the spring and trained the community on improved sanitation and hygiene practices, including COVID-19 prevention.

"Accessing water will be easier and fast. I am now sure if I sent my child to bring water it will be easier and I know the water is safe. Actually, my life will have changed. I will feel I have achieved a goal in my life," said Harun Mugadi, a farmer, father, and the spring's elected Chair.

"I have achieved one step in protecting the source. I believe the other goal is how to ensure the spring remains sustainable for generations to come."

Children were just as excited as the adults about the new water point.

"Clean water means life to me. Washing clothes, fruits, and other things gives you confidence in doing a lot of hygiene and sanitation practices," said primary school-aged Faith, who celebrated the spring alongside her younger brother.

"I have always performed well in school, but I wish to perform far better because I won't waste a lot of time fetching water. Access to the spring is easier and helps with time management."

Preparing for Spring Protection

Community members worked together to source and carry all locally available construction materials to the spring. These included bricks, sand, stones, and fencing poles. Some people also chiseled away at large stones to break them down into the gravel. Because people have to carry most items by hand, the materials collection process can take anywhere from a few weeks to months.

When everything was prepared, we sent a lorry to the community to deliver the rest of the construction materials, including the cement, plastic tarps, and hardware. Then, our artisan and field officers deployed to the spring to begin work. Individual households provided meals throughout each day to sustain the work team.

From Open Source to Protected Spring: A Step-by-Step Process

At last, it was time to dig in at the spring! Women and men lent their strength to the artisan each day to help with the manual labor. First, we cleared and excavated the spring area. Next, we dug a drainage channel below the spring and several surface runoff diversion channels above and around the spring. These help to divert environmental contaminants carried by the rains away from the spring.

To ensure community members could still fetch water throughout the construction process, we also dug temporary diversion channels from the spring’s eye around the construction site. This allowed water to flow without severely disrupting community members’ water needs or the construction work.

Excavation created space for setting the spring’s foundation made of thick plastic tarp, wire mesh, concrete, and waterproof cement. After setting the base, we started brickwork to build the headwall, wing walls, and stairs.

Next, we began one of the most crucial spring protection steps to ensure a fully functional water point: setting the discharge pipe. The discharge pipe has to be low enough in the headwall so that the water level inside never rises above the spring’s eye, yet high enough to leave eighteen to twenty inches between the pipe and the spring floor. This allows room for the average jerrycan (a 20-liter container) to sit beneath the pipe without making contact.

If we place the discharge pipe too high above the spring’s eye, too much backpressure could force the flow to emerge elsewhere. Too low, and community members would not be able to access the water easily. We embedded the pipe using clay (or mortar when the clay is in short supply) and placed it at a slight incline to ensure water flows in the right direction.

In coordination with brickwork, we pitched medium to large stones on both sides of the spring’s drainage channel. We then cemented and plastered each stone group into place, forming the rub walls. These help discourage people and animals from standing on that area, which could cause soil erosion and thus a clogged drainage area.

With brickwork and stone pitching completed, we turned to cementing and plastering both sides of the headwall and wing walls. These finishing layers reinforce the brickwork and prevent water in the reservoir from seeping through the walls. In turn, enough pressure builds in the reservoir box to push water out through the discharge pipe.

As the headwall and wing walls were curing, we cemented and plastered the stairs and installed four tiles beneath the discharge pipe. The tiles protect the concrete from the falling water’s erosive force while beautifying the spring and facilitating easy cleaning of the spring floor.

We transitioned to the final stages of construction with the tiles in place - backfilling the reservoir box. First, we cleared the collection box of any debris that may have fallen in since its construction, such as dead leaves or other items. Then we redirected the temporary diversion channels back into the reservoir box, channeling water into this area for the first time. We closed off all of the other exits to start forcing the water through the discharge pipe only.

With much help from the community, we filled up the reservoir area with the clean and large stones they gathered, arranging them in layers like a well-fitting puzzle. We covered the stones with a thick plastic tarp to minimize potential contamination sources from aboveground, followed by a layer of soil. We piled enough soil on top to create a slight mound to compensate for the backfill’s future settlement.

Community members transplanted grass onto the backfilled soil to help prevent erosion. Finally, the collection area was fenced to discourage any person or animal from walking on it since compaction can lead to disturbances in the backfill layers and potentially compromise water quality.

The entire construction process took about two weeks of work and patience to allow the cement and plaster to finish curing. As soon as it was ready, people got the okay from our field officers to fetch water.

We officially handed over the spring directly following training to mark the community's ownership of the water point. Happiness, thanksgiving, and appreciation were the order of the day flowing in all directions.

Training on Health, Hygiene, COVID-19, and More

Due to the ongoing challenges and restrictions amidst the pandemic, we worked with local leaders and the national Ministry of Health to gain approval for a small group training about health, hygiene, and COVID-19 prevention.

Together with the community, we found their preferred date for training while considering other community calendar events, such as the agricultural season and social events. We requested a representative group of community members to attend training to relay the information learned to the rest of their family and friends.

When the day arrived, facilitators Amos Emisiko and Victor Musemi deployed to the site to lead the event. Nineteen people attended the training, including community-based leaders. We held the training under a tree which provided shade for the participants because the day was sunny. A cool breeze also provided a good environment for participants to learn while remaining very attentive.

Perhaps the most crucial topic of the day was our session on COVID-19 prevention and control. Due to the rampant spread of misinformation about COVID-19, we dedicated time to a question and answer session to help debunk rumors about the virus and provide extra information where needed.

We covered several other topics, including community participation in the project; leadership and governance; personal and environmental hygiene; water handling and treatment; operation and maintenance of the spring; dental hygiene; the ten steps of handwashing, and how to make and use a tippy tap and leaky tin. In addition, we held an election for the newly formed water user committee leaders during the leadership and governance session.

We also brainstormed income-generating activities that can be used to start a community savings account for any future minor repairs to the spring and a cooperative lending group to enable members to develop small businesses.

Handwashing was the most memorable topic as one participant named Misco illustrated excellently how to wash hands, outshining everyone who tried before him. Misco carefully applied enough soap and water while washing his hands. At the end of the demonstration, he threw out a joke, asking "Where is the ugali (corn mush) now?" meaning his clean hands were fit to eat and he deserved a treat!

Another memorable topic was water management and safety. The facilitator singled out some participants to highlight what they saw and felt while looking over the diagrams showing good and bad hygiene habits. One participant showed his print-out with a baby using the bushes as a toilet. The participants confidently linked the situation with the old times as compared to now. The participant then confidently illustrated how they once polluted their environment unknowingly but thanked God for the change in the world with increased education and knowledge on why open defecation was a dangerous practice.

"We thank you for good lessons and we take it positively. The training is important to me as you have highlighted a lot of things; we need to put emphasis on these to better our lives. I am going to be a teacher of handwashing in this compound," said Harun Mugadi, a farmer, father, and the elected Chair of the spring's water user committee.

"The training is good to me. I have gained a lot. As a mother, the training has taught me the importance of hygiene and sanitation, especially when in the kitchen. I am able to pass this knowledge to my children and even grandchildren," noted Marble Khavere, also an elected leader on the water user committee.

Madam Khavere said their community had already been trying to observe good preventative measures to help fight the spread of COVID-19. "We wash hands frequently. We have set tippy taps at the entrance to our homesteads and pit latrines to enable us to wash hands frequently. We wear our masks, especially in social places like markets, and we practice contactless greetings."

"Mask-making was the most helpful part of the training. Imagine, we have all these materials in our houses, it is just that we haven't realized they are of help to us!" she said.

"We pledge, first, to continue with washing hands and wearing masks, among other precautions that we have been observing. We are going to employ the creation of more washing points, proper dieting, and drinking a lot of water," referring to the training's lesson on the importance of a nutritionally balanced diet and how to grow small plots of vegetables at home.

Regarding the pandemic, Madam Khavere said, "We must be worried because it is a disease, an invisible enemy. We believe in God that we shall overcome it - meanwhile, let us just observe the health protocols."

When an issue arises concerning the water project, the water user committee is equipped with the necessary skills to rectify the problem and ensure the water point works appropriately. However, if the issue is beyond their capabilities, they can contact our field officers to assist them. Also, we will continue to offer them unmatchable support as a part of our ongoing monitoring and maintenance program.

Thank you for making all of this possible!

May, 2021: Wizula Spring Project Underway!

Dirty water from Wizula Spring is making people in Shamakhokho, Kenya sick. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install a clean water point and much more.

Get to know this community through the narrative and pictures we’ve posted, and read about this water, sanitation, and hygiene project. We look forward to reaching out with news of success!