Project Status



Project Type:  Dug Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Western Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 300 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Sep 2016

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 09/04/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

This project is a part of our shared program with Safe Water and Sustainable Hygiene Initiative (SAWASHI). Our team is pleased to directly share the below report (edited for clarity, as needed).

Welcome to the Community

The Lurambi Community is one of many communities in a highly-populated area. Most of Lurambi's people are peasant farmers. They tend to small scale farms where they grow maize, vegetables, potatoes, bananas and sugarcane. Most of the children in this community attend one of the two public primary schools, Timbito or Namanja Primary.

Women here are the family members primarily responsible for household work and taking care of young children, while men take on the role of breadwinner. Most people here are religious, attending churches from different denominations such as Seventh Day Adventist, Catholic, Friends Quaker and PEFA Church Fellowship.

The assistant chief recognized the water crisis in his community and quickly applied for a project. He leads an approximate population of 300 people from 24 different households (this is because extended families live together!). Below are the details we gathered on our first visit to his community.

Water Situation

Lurambi Community relies on an unprotected well that is open to contamination. This is because the well has no pump with which to safely draw water. Instead, there is a hatch opening that can somewhat protect the well when it is not in use. However, when the hatch is opened, there is no good way to draw water. Locals decided to tie a bucket to the end of a rope, lowering it inside to pull up well water. When not in use, this bucket rests on the dirty ground.

There's a possibility that at one point in the 1980s or 90s, this well had a pump. Since then, it has disappeared, leaving just a concrete slab with an opening! Nobody in the community had any information about when or by whom the well was dug.

Women and children are most often seen at the hatch with their own plastic containers, which they occasionally clean by friction with sand and leaves. Once this water reaches home, it is separated into different containers by use. Drinking water is normally stored in clay pots with covers, because earthenware keeps the water cooler. Water for washing and cleaning is normally kept in the container with which the water was fetched. Before drinking, a person will make sure that all visible debris is filtered out of the water. However, this doesn't make the water safe for drinking; community members often complain of cases of typhoid and suffer from constant diarrhea. This is a terrible issue, because diarrhea dehydrates the body, and the body will crave more of this dirty water!

The well in Lurambi Community needs to be protected with a pump.

Sanitation Situation

Over half of the households in Lurambi have some for of pit latrine. The average latrine is made of mud with an iron roof. Personal hygiene was not observed to be a big deal here, because less than a quarter of these same homes had a bathing room. It's important to have a place to wash up in private!

We couldn't find any hand-washing stations in the entire area, and around half of the households had helpful sanitation tools like dish racks and clotheslines. Since most practice farming, families collect and then sort their garbage and waste at the edge of their farms. Biodegradable materials will be turned into compost to help boost the soil's fertility.

We noticed that a good percentage of the population has some degree of knowledge on proper hygiene and sanitation, manifest in dish racks and clotheslines. Disease will still be an issue until everyone's on board, though. Hygiene and sanitation training will sensitize the entire community to the need for good health practices, and motivate them to encourage and support neighbors to do the same. An old farmer named Sarah Wafula said, "We appreciate you for considering our community to have this project to be upgraded. At least we will be sure with the safety of our water point. Also, your training on hygiene and sanitation will be of great impact in our day to day activities, because most of us forget this important issues!" Check out the "See Photos & Video" tab to find a picture of Sarah.

Plans: Hygiene and Sanitation Training

Community members will be trained for two days on applicable hygiene and sanitation practices. The facilitator will use the PHAST (Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Training) method to teach about topics like: Importance of Using Latrines, Good and Bad Hygiene Behavior, Water Treatment, Water Storage, Food Preparation and Storage, Disease Transmission Routes, Blocking the Spread of Disease, and last but not least, Hand-Washing!

Training will result in the formation of a water user committee which will oversee, manage, and maintain the rehabilitated well. They will also encourage every household to build new sanitation facilities like latrines, bathing rooms, dish racks, and clotheslines.

Plans: Hand-Washing Stations

Two hand-washing stations are scheduled for delivery by the time well rehabilitation is complete. Training participants will be taught the steps to effective hand-washing, and of the importance of using a cleaning agent such as soap or ash. Water user committee members will also check that there is water inside the containers on a daily basis.

Plans: Well Rehabilitation

The community affirms that this well has sufficient water that will supply them throughout all seasons. The well has a total depth of nine meters and a brick lining that protects the well from collapse and keeps the water from siltation.

The rehabilitation process will include material collection, pad reconstruction, flushing, test pumping, water quality testing, water treatment, and then pump installation.

With this well protected, community members will suffer less and less from waterborne disease. If they practice what they learn in hygiene and sanitation training, the will suffer less and less from communicable disease. Less disease means less money spent on medical treatment, and more time spent earning a living.

Thank You for noticing Lurambi Community's need for new knowledge and clean water that unlocks potential!

Project Updates


December, 2017: A Year Later: Lurambi Community

A year ago, generous donors joined the Lurambi community in Western Kenya in the work of rehabilitating a shallow well. Because of these gifts and contributions from our monthly donors, partners are able to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the actual water project. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – we’re excited to share this one from our partner, Paul Weringa, with you.




Project Photos


Project Type

Hand-dug wells have been an important source of water throughout human history! Now, we have so many different types of water sources, but hand-dug wells still have their place. Hand 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.


A Year Later: Lurambi Community

November, 2017

“After the borehole was fitted a new afridev pump, things changed. Now, the method of collecting water for the source is safe leading to reduced outbreak of diseases like typhoid and diarrhea which were constant. The costs that could spent on medication, is now saved for other purposes like paying school fees for children and buying food for the family.”

Keeping The Water Promise

There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Lurambi Community Well Rehabilitation Project.

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Lurambi Community Well Rehabilitation Project maintain access to safe, reliable water. Together, they keep The Water Promise.

We’re confident you'll love joining this world-changing group committed to sustainability!

A year ago, generous donors joined the Lurambi community in Western Kenya in the work of rehabilitating a shallow well. Because of these gifts and contributions from our monthly donors, partners are able to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the actual water project. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – we’re excited to share this one from our partner, Paul Weringa, with you.

Prior to this project the Lurambi community was lowering a bucket down an unprotected and open hole.  The water that was available to the community through these means was contaminated, and many people in the community were suffering from waterborne sickness.  Mercy Ambia, a woman who holds a position in community security, shares, “The water is now clean. We don't spend much for hospital bills and we now use the money for other purposes.  Most of the community members have really kept in practice on what we were trained on during the initial stages of project implementation.

The well does go dry during the extended dry seasons.  During these times the women and children walk to an unprotected source to access water.  SAWASHI is working together with the community to find a solution to this problem, with talks of deepening the well so that the water might be available year round.

The situation in Lurambi reveals the great impact of clean water and the ongoing need for partnership in order to face challenges of year-round water access.  We are excited to stay in touch with this community and to report the impact in the Lurambi community as they continue on their journey with clean water.

The Water Project and our partners are committed to consistent monitoring of each water source. Our monitoring and evaluation program, made possible by monthly donors, allows us to visit communities up to 4 times a year. Read more about our program and how you can help.


Navigating through intense dry spells, performing preventative maintenance, conducting quality repairs when needed and continuing to assist community leaders to manage water points are all normal parts of keeping projects sustainable. The Water Promise community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Lurambi Community Well Rehabilitation Project maintain access to safe, reliable water.

We’d love for you to join this world-changing group committed to sustainability.

The most impactful way to continue your support of Lurambi Community Well Rehabilitation Project – and hundreds of other places just like this – is by joining our community of monthly givers.

Your monthly giving will help provide clean water, every month... keeping The Water Promise.


Contributors

Project Sponsor - Jessica and Colin Davis