May, 2020: COVID-19 Prevention Training Update at Kaliani 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 Kalani, 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: Kaliani Community Hand-Dug Well

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

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

March, 2019: Kaliani Community Has Water!

We're excited to let you know about a recent development in Kaliani Community: The sand dam has captured and is now filtering water from the first rainfall. That means there is water flowing at the well!

Thank You for celebrating this moment with the community; none of this would have been possible without your generosity.

January, 2019: Kaliani Community Hand-Dug Well Project Complete

Kaliani 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.

We look forward to reaching back out when clean water is flowing here!

Important Review and New Knowledge

Hygiene and sanitation training was planned and organized by the Mbumbuni area field officer, Rhoda Mwangu, in collaboration with Officer Veronica Matolo and the self-help group leadership. They all agreed on the best date and venue. It was settled that Ms. Matolo would meet the community at Rozina Katuli’s homestead, which was easily accessible for all involved.

Training started on a cold morning with on and off rain drizzles. During the rainy times, all of us would gather under the available houses and shelters.

Mixing soap together

Despite the weather, attendance was as expected with a majority of self-help group members in attendance. Other community members who are not members of the group also attended to learn more about good hygiene practices.

All participants expressed high interest to learn and embrace new hygiene concepts, however, women expressed more interest compared to the men. It was later established that some of the women had missed previous trainings, thus their great interest in learning the concepts.

Topics included:

– Importance of a dish drying rack
– Cleaning the household compound
– Water treatment methods
– Personal hygiene
– Food preparation and storage
– Latrine hygiene
– Trash disposal
– Making soap

An agenda for the day

Community members were most eager to learn about water treatment methods. People were happy to learn about this to prevent the waterborne diseases from which they suffer.

Participants were surprised to learn about how important it is to cover a latrine pit when it’s not in use. This was a new concept not known by a majority of members who attended, but they later understood that the same flies that are attracted to their latrines are attracted to their food.

"The training content has been very educative to us on issues which touch our daily lives," said Mrs. Rozina Katuli.

Rozina Katuli

"It has helped me improve my understanding of the best hygiene practices, ways of making soap which can be used for income generation, and providing soap for household use among other practices aimed at improving our living standards and reducing exposure to disease-causing organisms."

Hand-Dug Well

"We would like to thank God for having guided us through to the completion of this project. Everyone is happy and it is the talk of the village," said Mr. Mutinda Mulei.

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.

Two women transporting a stone to the construction site

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.

Flooding behind the sand dam before the pump could be 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.

"Such an amazing water harvesting project will help us access water easily all year round since it holds a high volume of water. Our cattle will also have access to water without walking long distances," said Mr. Mulei.

We look forward to reaching out again as the adjacent dam builds up sand and we have news of water here!

November, 2018: Kaliani Community Hand-Dug Well Underway

Dirty water from open water holes is making people in Kaliani Community sick. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install a clean water point and much more.

Get to know your 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 more good news!