Project Status



Project Type:  Dug Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Southeastern Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 250 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Feb 2019

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 02/28/2024

Project Features


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This is the third year we have worked with the Kiluta Sand Dam Self-Help Group. Two dams and two wells have been constructed, giving people access to safe water for drinking and a source for irrigating their crops.

They have made really good use of the already existing dams. Their aim is to avail more water near all the members of their group in order to widen the scope of water that reaches them thus improving their livelihoods.

Many people still must walk more than a mile each way to access the new well and benefit from the dams. Furthermore, a single well is not enough to supply clean water for the more than 2,000 people in this community. So we plan to construct another well and dam to ensure that everyone has safe water nearby.

"Availability of water from the installed projects is helping improve our living standards through increased water access, many of our homesteads are now clean with high levels of hygiene and sanitation. Implementing more projects will continue bringing about positive change," Mrs. Felisters Kituku, a local farmer, said to us.

This self-help group works with us as a part of a five-year development program. They were trained during the construction of their first successful sand dam, and have grown immensely since then.

Go here to see the well and sand dam constructed last year.

The community is found in a rural hilly area with a rough terrain which is largely peaceful and has significant vegetation cover. The majority of the buildings are small houses of individual homesteads which make up the village.

Many people in these villages and the larger Nzaui District are actively involved in large-scale fruit farming in their pieces of land especially mangoes and oranges, the increased production of fruits in the area resulted to the Makueni County government installing a fruit processing plant at the nearby Kalamba Market to tap on produce from the locals.

While just about every home has a pit latrine here, the latrines we visited were in poor condition and smelled bad. There were no signs of regular cleanings and no evidence of clean water available for handwashing.

Universal access to water by all community members remains a challenge with some members coming from far areas from the already implemented water projects. The community members exhibit high levels of commitment to ensure easy access to water by all the population through the implementation of more water projects to reach every corner of this region.

What we plan to do about it:

Our main entry point into Masaani Community is the Kiluta Sand Dam Self-Help Group, which is comprised of farming households that are working together to address water and food scarcity in their region. These members will be our hands and feet in both constructing water projects and spreading the message of good hygiene and sanitation to everyone.

Training

We’re going to continue training the self-help group members and their communities on hygiene and sanitation practices. Though every single household in the area has a pit latrine, they were found to be below average in cleanliness. They were terribly smelly, but we noted that some families are using ash to try and cover up the smell from the pit. Nobody had any water around the latrine to rinse them after use. Less than a third of household have water for handwashing, either. We will affirm community members in what they are doing correctly but will focus on the areas of need improvement such as latrine hygiene and handwashing.

Hand-Dug Well

This particular hand-dug well is being built adjacent to this group’s ongoing sand dam project (click here to see), which will supply clean drinking water once it rains. We have supplied the group with the tools needed for excavation. With the guidance of our artisans and mechanics, the excavated well will be cased, sealed with a well pad, and then finished with a new AfriDev pump.

Excavation takes a month or more on average, depending on the nature of the rock beneath. Construction of the well lining and installation of the pump takes 12 days maximum. The well will be lined with a concrete wall including perforations so that once it rains, water will filter in from the sand dam.

This well will be located in Masaani Village and will bring clean water closer to families having to walk long distances for their water.

Project Updates


June, 2020: COVID-19 Prevention Training Update at Masaani Community

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 Masaani, 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,

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.

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.




October, 2019: Giving Update: Masaani Community Hand-Dug Well

A year ago, your generous donation helped Masaani Community in Kenya access clean water.

There’s an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Masaani. Month after month, their giving supports ongoing sustainability programs that help this community maintain access to safe, reliable water. Read more…




February, 2019: Masaani Community Hand-Dug Well Complete

Masaani Community, Kenya now has a new water source thanks to your donation. A hand-dug well was constructed adjacent to a sand dam. Once it rains, the dam will build up sand that both stores and naturally filters water available at the hand-dug well. Community members also attended hygiene and sanitation training, and plan to share what they learned with their families and neighbors.

Review and New Knowledge

The hygiene review training was planned by the field officer and training officer. They communicated with self-help group leadership and agreed on a convenient date for the training to take place.

The people in attendence were actively involved in the training, especially the young women. The participants wanted to review family planning, menstrual hygiene, water treatment, personal hygiene and environmental hygiene.

For water treatment, an interactive session was held on how the community members had been handling water from their various sources. They were taught about the best ways of water treatment for their area. The topic addressed water issues that come up anywhere from the source all the way to their homesteads.

"This training has taught us important practices which can help prevent disease outbreaks and improve hygiene behavior at the household level. I have learned the importance of water treatment and its handling through use of containers with covers, cleaning of fetching containers, and other household utensils. Good hygiene and sanitation practices will also help us lead good lives full of health," said Mrs. Kituku.

Mrs. Kituku

Hand-Dug Well

Construction on this new hand-dug well was a big success!

"We are happy, especially us women. This project alongside the others we have implemented in the previous years will be key towards ending the water crisis in our village," said Mrs. Mbithi.

"We will now have easy access to water from within the village which will ease the burden on us women and children as we are usually involved in the search for water."

Process:

We delivered the experts and materials, but the community helped get an extraordinary amount of work done. They collected local materials to supplement the project, including sand and water.

A seven feet in diameter hole is excavated up to a recommended depth of 25 feet. (Most hand-dug wells don’t reach that depth due to the existence of hard rocks between 10-18 ft.). The diameter then shrinks to five feet when construction of the hand-dug well lining is completed. This lining is made of brick and mortar with perforations to allow for water to seep through.

Once the construction of the lining is level with the top of the dam, a precast concrete slab is built on top and joined to the wall using mortar. Four bolts for the hand-pump are fixed on the slab during casting. The concrete needs to dry over the course of two weeks before the pump is installed.

The mechanics arrive to install the pump as community members watch, learning how to manage simple maintenance tasks for themselves.

The well is then given another few days after installing the pump to allow the joints to completely dry.

The pump was installed level with the top of the sand dam because as the dam matures, sand will amass until it reaches the top of the platform. Once it rains, this sand behind the dam wall will store the water to be accessed through this hand-dug well.

In fact, the sand dam has already stored water that's currently being enjoyed by the community!

Thank You for making all of this possible.




February, 2019: Masaani Community Well Project Underway

Many people in Masaani Community have to walk more than a mile each way to access water. Thanks to your generosity, we are building a well to bring drinking water closer to hundreds of people.

Get to know Masaani Community through the introduction and pictures we’ve posted, and read about this water, sanitation and hygiene project. We look forward to reaching out soon with more good news!




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.


Giving Update: Masaani Community Hand-Dug Well

October, 2019

A year ago, your generous donation helped Masaani community in Kenya access clean water – creating a life-changing moment for Mwendi Mutua. Thank you!

Keeping The Water Promise

There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Masaani Community 1B.

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Masaani Community 1B 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!

At a time like this in previous years, Masaani community members would be stressed out due to water scarcity as a result of the lingering drought. However, in the past year, such concerns have never come to a head thanks to the sand dam and hand-dug shallow well they constructed.

The water source has been providing plenty of clean water to the residents throughout the year. The water is fresh and very sweet for drinking. People here no longer have to walk for about 5 kilometers a day in a bid to access water.

"My mother would send me and my younger siblings to fetch water for bathing and washing my uniforms after school. The distance was too long and we would get really exhausted. At times, we would hide and not bathe or wash our uniforms," said 7-year-old Mwendi Mutua.

The time expended in pursuit of water is now channeled to other, income-generating activities such as farming and businesses. For Mwendi, it means more time to be with her friends.

"Now that the distance has reduced and I enjoy fetching water, I also have time to play after school, do my homework, and catch up with my friends," she said.

Easy access to clean water has led to a happier and more productive community. The availability of water has sustained a green and serene environment. Community members now engage in farming of vegetables such as kale, spinach, tomatoes, green peppers, and coriander, which was a rare practice before.

"These days I perform my house chores very fast and I can also manage to farm and sell some products from my farm. Thanks to this project, I can sustain a living and meet most of my needs through the money I earn," said Veronica Musaa.

On the day of our visit, our field staff met Kwame Martin and his brother Baraka Martin, watering their father's vegetables which had been planted adjacent to the dam source. The 2 boys were very excited about the chore.

The availability of water has also resulted in improved hygiene and sanitation in their homesteads because the community members now bathe daily, have tippy taps erected outside their latrines for handwashing, and have nicely constructed latrine structures.

"I am very happy about this project because it has made my life easier," said Mrs. Musaa.


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 Masaani Community 1B 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 Masaani Community 1B – 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 - Lifeplus Foundation