Project Status



Project Type:  Protected Spring

Regional Program: Western Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 350 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Nov 2017

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 10/02/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

This project is a part of our shared program with Western Water and Sanitation Forum (WEWASAFO). Our team is pleased to directly share the below report (edited for clarity, as needed).

Welcome to the Community

People in this Shikhambi/Angwete Community wake up by 6:30am when women go to fetch water for drinking, cooking, and cleaning while men go ahead of them to the farm. After women finish their domestic chores around the home, they join the men on their farms. This being the rainy season, people in Kenya are busy preparing land to plant crops for family consumption and sale. They plant maize, beans and other vegetables with the surplus being sold to help them support their families with paying school fess, food and clothing. In this community, some men own motorbikes which they use to run taxiing businesses.

Water Situation

The spring in this area is Daniel Inganga Spring, named after the landowner. Daniel is old now, and he says that he has been drinking water from this unprotected spring for over 60 years. He has been contracting waterborne diseases on and off for those 60 years. He also said that his neighbors suffer from amoeba and typhoid. There was absolutely no alternative but to drink this dirty water, until recently.

Isabella Spring was transformed by a project last year, giving hundreds a new source of clean water. The families living around Daniel Inganga Spring heard about this clean water source, and decided it would be better to make this long walk to the other side of their community than to continue suffering from waterborne diseases. This long walk is why women living in the Shikhambi/Angwete area have to wake up so early.

"I am now very happy because our spring will be protected soon and we shall be taking clean and safe water. We shall not be making long trips to Isabella Spring. My life will be better once the spring is protected," said Daniel.

We met Mr. Inganga and his neighbors when visiting Isabella Spring for monitoring and evaluation. We found them worn out from the long trip to Isabella Spring, but they shared it was worth it for clean water. They told us they have lots of water back home, but it was too dirty to drink. We paid them a visit and found them in dire need of a spring protection project.

Sanitation Situation

Less than half of households have their own pit latrine. Those we observed are made of mud and iron sheets, but are full of waste and very dirty. Others have floors made of wooden logs suspended over the pit, posing danger to their users (especially the young and old who struggle to balance). These wooden floors also rot, and stories of victims who fall through the floor to injury or death are not uncommon.

A few homes have set up dish racks and clotheslines, but many still need to learn of their importance. There were few dedicated containers for hand-washing, proving that hand-washing is not yet an appreciated practice in this area of Shikhambi.

Plans: Hygiene and Sanitation Training

Community members will attend hygiene and sanitation training for at least two days. This training will ensure participants are no longer ignorant about healthy practices and their importance. The facilitator plans to use PHAST (Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation), CLTS (Community-Led Total Sanitation), ABCD (Asset-Based Community Development), group discussions, handouts, and demonstrations at the spring.

Training will also result in the formation of a committee that will oversee operations and maintenance at the spring. They will enforce proper behavior around the spring and delegate tasks that will help preserve the site, such as building a fence and digging proper drainage.

Plans: Sanitation Platforms

On the final day of training, participants will select five families that should benefit from new latrines.

Training will also inform the community and selected families on what they need to contribute to make this project a success. They must mobilize locally available materials, such as bricks, clean sand, hardcore, and ballast. The five families must prepare by sinking a pit for the sanitation platforms to be placed over. All community members must work together to make sure that accommodations and food are always provided for the work teams.

Plans: Spring Protection

Protecting the spring will ensure that its water is safe, adequate and secure. Construction will keep surface runoff and other contaminants out of the water. Fetching water is predominantly a female role, done by both women and young girls. Protecting the spring and offering training and support will therefore help empower the female members of the community by giving them more time and efforts to engage and invest in income-generating activities.

Project Updates


June, 2020: COVID-19 Prevention Training Update at Daniel Inganga Spring

Our teams are working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Join us in our fight against the virus while maintaining access to clean, reliable water.

We are carrying out awareness and prevention trainings on the virus in every community we serve. Very often, our teams are the first (and only) to bring news and information of the virus to rural communities like Shikhambi, Kenya.

We trained community members on the symptoms, transmission routes, and prevention of COVID-19. Due to public gathering concerns, we worked with trusted community leaders to gather a select group of community members who would then relay the information learned to the rest of their family and friends.

We covered essential hygiene lessons:

- Demonstrations on how to build a simple handwashing station

- Proper handwashing technique

- The importance of using soap and clean water for handwashing

- Cleaning and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces including at the water point.

We covered COVID-19-specific guidance in line with national and international standards:

- Information on the symptoms and transmission routes of COVID-19

- What social distancing is and how to practice it

- How to cough into an elbow

- Alternative ways to greet people without handshakes, fist bumps, etc.

- How to make and properly wear a facemask.

During training, we installed a new handwashing station with soap near the community’s water point, along with a sign with reminders of what we covered.

Due to the rampant spread of misinformation about COVID-19, we also dedicated time to a question and answer session to help debunk rumors about the disease and provide extra information where needed.

We continue to stay in touch with this community as the pandemic progresses. We want to ensure their water point remains functional and their community stays informed about the virus.

Water access, sanitation, and hygiene are at the crux of disease prevention. You can directly support our work on the frontlines of COVID-19 prevention in all of the communities we serve while maintaining their access to safe, clean, and reliable water.




November, 2018: A Year Later: Shikhambi Community, Daniel Inganga Spring

A year ago, your generous donation enabled us to protect Daniel Inganga Spring for Shikhambi Community in Kenya. The contributions of incredible monthly donors and others giving directly to The Water Promise allow our local 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. Read more...




November, 2017: Shikhambi Community Project Complete

Daniel Inganga Spring in Shikhambi Community, Kenya is now a protected, clean source of water thanks to your donation. The spring is protected from contamination, five sanitation platforms have been provided for the community, and training has been given in sanitation and hygiene. Imagine the changes that all of these resources are going to bring for these residents! You made it happen!  Now, want to do a bit more? Join our team of monthly donors and help us maintain this spring protection and many other projects.

We just updated the project page with the latest pictures, so make sure to check them out! And please enjoy the rest of the report from our partner in Kenya:

Project Result: New Knowledge

We organized hygiene and sanitation training with the help of community leaders. They worked with their neighbors to set the date and location for us. Community members chose to meet at the spring so they could witness construction as it finished up and fetch clean water as soon as possible.

Two of our facilitators covered several topics, including leadership and governance; operation and maintenance of the spring; healthcare; family planning; immunizations; the spread of disease and prevention. We also covered water treatment methods, environmental hygiene, hygiene promotion, and many others.

Participants received notebooks and pens to help them record everything they learned.

Demonstrations were some of the most popular parts of the training, with participants enjoying getting their hands involved. We did this with hand-washing, teaching the 10 steps of washing with soap and running water. We also took participants to their spring, where construction had recently finished. There we were able to teach about proper spring use, management, and simple maintenance.

Participants take a group picture together after training.

During our visits following training, it was evident that community members were taking what they learned seriously. Participants ensured that their own families have latrines, bathing rooms, and dish racks. They even went out to their neighbors' homes to check whether or not they were building these facilities too.

Grace Magotzi said, "Personally, I am very happy and grateful because as a community we are now accessing clean and safe drinking water. This will also help us improve on our personal hygiene, which has been a challenge for quite some time."

Project Result: Sanitation Platforms

All five sanitation platforms have been installed and are ready for use. These five families are happy about this milestone and are optimistic that there will be much less open defecation. People without proper latrines would often use the privacy of bushes, but now have a private place of their own. It is expected that proper use of latrine facilities provided by the sanitation platforms will go a long way in reducing environmental pollution here. We are continuing to encourage families to finish building walls and roofs over their new latrine floors.

A man stands on his sturdy new sanitation platform.

Project Result: Spring Protection

Community members provided all locally available construction materials, e.g bricks, wheelbarrows of clean sand, wheelbarrows of ballast, fencing poles and hard core (crushed rock and gravel). Accommodation and food for the artisan were provided, and a few people even volunteered their time and strength to help the artisan with manual labor.

A man carrying stones to the construction site.

The spring area was excavated to create space for setting the foundation of polyethylene, wire mesh and concrete. After the base had been set, both wing walls and the headwall were set in place using brickwork. The discharge pipe was fixed low in place through the head wall to direct the water from the reservoir to the drawing area.

As the wing walls and head wall were curing, the stairs were set and the tiles were fixed directly below the discharge pipe. This reduces the erosive force of the falling water and beautifies the spring. The process of plastering the head wall and wing walls on both sides reinforces the brickwork and prevents water from the reservoir from seeping through the walls and allows pressure to build in the collection box to push water up through the discharge pipe.  Lastly, the base of the spring was plastered and the collection box was cleaned. The source area was filled up with clean hardcore and covered with a polyethylene membrane to eliminate any potential sources of contamination. Finally, grass was planted and cutoff drains dug to direct surface water away from the spring box.

Filling up the area behind the discharge pipe with a natural filter.

The only issue was transporting hardware to the construction site; the roads to the community are very muddy, and so our truck got stuck and broke down. It took two days for the materials to arrive on site, with another truck coming so we could transfer the materials.

This process has transformed Daniel Inganga Spring into a clean water source. People gathered to celebrate this transformation and fetch their first buckets of clean water.




October, 2017: Shikhambi Community Project Underway

Shikhambi Community will soon have a clean, safe source of water thanks to your donation. Community members have been drinking contaminated water from Inganga Spring, and often suffer physical illnesses after doing so. Our partner conducted a survey of the area and deemed it necessary to protect the spring, build new sanitation platforms (safe, easy-to-clean concrete floors for latrines), and conduct sanitation and hygiene training. Thanks to your generosity, waterborne disease will no longer be a challenge for the families drinking the spring’s water. We look forward to sharing more details with you as they come! But for now, please take some time to check out the report containing community information, pictures, and maps.




Project Photos


Project Type

Springs are water sources that come from deep underground, where the water is filtered through natural layers until it is clean enough to drink. Once the water pushes through the surface of the Earth, however, outside elements like waste and runoff can contaminate the water quickly. We protect spring sources from contamination with a simple waterproof cement structure surrounding layers of clay, stone, and soil. This construction channels the spring’s water through a discharge pipe, making water collection easier, faster, and cleaner. Each spring protection also includes a chlorine dispenser at the waterpoint so community members can be assured that the water they are drinking is entirely safe. Learn more here!


A Year Later: Shikhambi Community, Daniel Inganga Spring

October, 2018

“We are very grateful and we thank The Water Project for protecting our spring.” – Rice Russel

Keeping The Water Promise

There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Shikhambi Community, Daniel Inganga Spring.

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Shikhambi Community, Daniel Inganga Spring 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, your generous donation enabled us to protect Daniel Inganga Spring for Shikhambi Community in Kenya. The contributions of incredible monthly donors and others giving directly to The Water Promise allow our local 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 – and we’re excited to share this one from local team member Joan Were with you.


Water contamination is a problem of the past, thanks to the protection of Daniel Inganga spring last year. This has led to fewer cases of diarrhea, especially in children under three years old, report community members.

"We are full of joy and very grateful since you protected our spring. We used to face many challenges in terms of contamination, but now we are sure of drinking clean water," Sarah Opanga told us when we met her at the spring.

Sarah Opanga

Protection of the spring is only one step along the journey toward sustainable access to clean water. The Water Project is 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.

One project is just a drop in the bucket towards ending the global water crisis, but the ripple effects of this project are truly astounding. This spring in Shikhambi is changing many lives.

"Fetching water is now easy and we no longer see worms in the water," 9-year-old Rice Russel said.

Rice Russel

"We are very grateful and we thank The Water Project for protecting our spring."

The adults are now practicing good hygiene at home too. They handle the water properly and treat it before use. This can be attributed to the hygiene training that they received when their spring was being protected.

This is only possible because of the web of support and trust built between The Water Project, our local teams, 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.


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 Shikhambi Community, Daniel Inganga Spring 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 Shikhambi Community, Daniel Inganga Spring – 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

1 individual donor(s)