Museesu Community 2B

Project Status

Project Type: Protected Dug Well

Regional Program: Southeastern Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 300 Served

Project Phase: In Service - Jan 2026

Functionality Status: Functional

Project Features

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In the Museesu Community, 400 people struggle daily to meet their water needs. Most commonly, people collect water from faraway scoop holes, which take a three-hour walk to reach. The hole dug down into a sandy, dry river bed can only provide a limited amount of water, so people jostle for the opportunity to be first. Sadly, all of this effort is to collect water that is bound to make them sick.

Scoop hole.

Field Officer Alex Koech shared, "The community spends a lot of time and energy fetching water, which could be used to improve their lives through farming or looking for employment opportunities."

Consuming the water collected often causes people to suffer from typhoid, amoeba, and dysentery. These are costly illnesses that impede their ability to work or go to school and force them to spend precious resources on hospitalizations and medication.

12-year-old Ann has experienced the water crisis for too long. It has robbed her of her health, put her behind in school, and damaged her morale.

Ann.

"I get very sick several times during the year because we mostly depend on water from scoop holes. I felt very bad because I could only lie down in bed as I continued with my treatment. I have to stay at home as I take my medication and resume classes when I get better," Ann shared.

The hardship doesn't cease when she regains her health. Every day, she makes the long journey for water, the very water that is likely to make her bed-bound again. It is incredibly frustrating and makes progress in her daily life nearly impossible.

"We receive very little rainfall in our area, and it feels bad that we have to live in such adverse conditions. I spend a lot of time fetching water, and I return home feeling exhausted and unable to focus on my classes," Ann added.

The difficult landscape makes the journey feel even longer.

Implementing a well in the Museesu Community is the first step to creating a world where Ann can enjoy her childhood and chase her dreams with a good education, unencumbered by water-related illness.

"When I grow up, I want to be a doctor," she shared.

Ann (right) at the distant well, getting ready to carry that water container all the way home.

"The proposed water point will help provide enough water for farming and improving their livelihoods through the sale of crops. The protected shallow well will also be free from animal and wind contamination, thus offering clean water to the residents that does not expose them to maladies like typhoid, amoeba, dysentery, and stomach upsets. Residents will have more time and energy to conduct farming and other income-generating activities," concluded Alex.

Solving the water crisis in this community will require a multifaceted system that will work together to create a sustainable water source that will serve this community for years to come.

Note: Our proposed water point can only serve 300 people per day. We are working with the community to identify other water solutions that will ensure everyone has access to safe and reliable drinking water.

Steps Toward a Solution

Our technical experts worked with the local community to identify the most effective solution to their water crisis. Together, they decided to construct a dug well and sand dam.

Dug Well Near A Sand Dam
Once a sand dam is installed and has time to mature by gathering sand and silt, groundwater increases significantly in the entire area surrounding the project. This provides a reliable source of groundwater that wasn’t possible before. As a result, wells can be constructed to take advantage of the water stored and filtered in the collected sand.

During construction, we build a platform for the well and attach a hand pump. The community gains a safe, enclosed water source capable of providing approximately five gallons of water per minute.

This dug-well will be connected to a sand dam to obtain water.

Community Education & Ownership
Hygiene and sanitation training are integral to our water projects. Training is tailored to each community's specific needs and includes key topics such as proper water handling, improved hygiene practices, disease transmission prevention, and care of the new water point. Safe water and improved hygiene habits foster a healthier future for everyone in the community. Encouraged and supported by the guidance of our team, a water user committee representative of the community's diverse members assumes responsibility for maintaining the water point, often gathering fees to ensure its upkeep.

Project Updates

January, 2026: Museesu Community Well Complete!

The Museesu Community in Kenya now has a new water source thanks to your donation! We constructed a new protected dug well adjacent to a new sand dam on the riverbed. The sand dam will raise the water table and naturally filter water, while the well will provide a safer method of drawing drinking water for the community.

It could take up to three years of rain for the sand dam to reach its maximum capacity, as rainfall is often scarce in this region, occurring only once a year. As the sand dam matures and stores more sand, the surrounding landscape will become lush and fertile, and the well will fill with water.

"Before this new waterpoint, I spent many hours walking on dusty and rocky roads during weekends, evenings, and even school holidays to fetch water. This made me very tired, and sometimes my legs and feet hurt. With water now closer and more reliable, I will no longer have to spend so much time fetching water," said 12-year-old Brian.

Brian.

"This new waterpoint will help my parents by reducing the stress of looking for water every day. They will save time and energy, which they can use for farming, caring for livestock, or doing other work to support our family," he continued.

"Reliable water will greatly improve my learning at school. I will be less tired in class because I will not spend long hours fetching water before or after school. I will be able to attend school regularly, concentrate better in lessons, and have time to complete my homework. Clean water will also help prevent illnesses, so I will miss fewer school days. Overall, having reliable water gives me a better chance to learn well and work toward my dreams," Brian celebrated.

Protected Dug Well Construction

Construction for this well was a success!

We delivered the experts, materials, and tools, but the community also contributed significantly to an extraordinary amount of work being done. They collected local materials to supplement the project, including sand, stones, and water. Once all the materials were ready, it was time to dig in!

First, we excavated a hole seven feet in diameter down to the recommended depth of 25 feet. The well lining was constructed using brick and mortar with perforations to allow water to seep through. Now that the well is finished, sand builds up around its walls, which will filter the water stored behind the dam.

Once the well walls and lining were complete, we laid a precast concrete slab on top and joined it to the wall using mortar. The concrete dried for two weeks before installation.

Next, the mechanics arrived to install the well pump, as community members watched and learned how to manage simple maintenance tasks. We installed the pump level with the top of the sand dam. As the dam matures, sand will build up to the top of the wall. Until then, people will use concrete steps to get water. After installing the pump, we gave the well another few days to dry.

We worked with the Museesu Self-Help Group for this project. The members and their families contributed tremendous amounts of materials and physical labor.

Community Education

Our trainer collaborated with the field staff and community members to identify areas where the community could improve.

As we’ve worked with this Self-Help Group in the past, we discussed with them the subjects on which they needed refresher training.

"I feel very hopeful for Museesu self-help group. The group has demonstrated strong unity, commitment, and ownership throughout the entire process, from mobilizing quality local materials to actively participating in the construction of the sand dam and shallow well project. Their willingness to work together, follow technical guidance from the field officer and dam coordinator, and overcome past water challenges shows a high level of organization and determination," declared Field Officer Alex Koech.

"In addition, the refresher PHAST (Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation) has strengthened behavior change, revived good hygiene practices, and successfully integrated new members into the group’s values. With improved access to reliable water, renewed focus on hygiene and sanitation, and a clear sense of shared responsibility, Museesu SHG is well-positioned to improve health, livelihoods, and income generation, making the sustainability and long-term impact of this project very promising," Alex continued.

We trained the group on various skills, including bookkeeping, financial management, project management, group dynamics, and governance. We conducted hygiene and sanitation training to teach skills such as soap and detergent making and to improve habits, including handwashing.

We covered health issues in the community, including both good and bad hygiene habits, as well as disease prevention. Finally, we covered both natural resource management and the operation and maintenance of the sand dam.

Annastacia Mwikali.

"This hygiene training was interesting because it focuses on changing people’s behaviour and attitudes toward hygiene and sanitation, not just giving instructions. Through this training, we learned how our everyday practices can either cause or prevent diseases in our households and community. It helped us identify unhygienic behaviours and encouraged better practices such as water treatment, cleaning compounds, proper waste disposal, and shared responsibility for hygiene. I also learned that hygiene is everyone’s role; men, women, and children, and seeing men actively involved after the training showed that real behaviour change was taking place," commented 52-year-old farmer Annastacia Mwikali.

Thank you for making all of this possible!

December, 2025: Exciting Progress in Museesu Community!

We’re thrilled to share that, thanks to your generous support, significant change is coming for Ann and the entire Museesu Community. Construction has begun on the well project, bringing them one step closer to having clean, reliable water.

But that's not all—during construction, we’re also providing vital health training. These sessions equip the community with essential hygiene practices, ensuring that the benefits of clean water extend to lasting health improvements.

We’re so grateful for your role in making this possible. Stay tuned for more updates—soon, we’ll be celebrating the arrival of safe water in the Museesu Community!

Project Type

Dug wells have been an important source of water throughout human history! Now, we have so many different types of water sources, but protected dug wells still have their place. Protected dug wells are not as deep as borehole wells, and work best in areas where there is a ready supply of water just under the surface of the ground, such as next to a mature sand dam. Our artisans dig down through the layers of the ground and then line the hole with bricks, stone, or concrete, which prevent contamination and collapse. Then, back up at surface level, we install a well platform and a hand pump so people can draw up the water easily.

Museesu Community 2B

Project Status

Community Profile