July, 2020: COVID-19 Prevention Training Update at Ivumbu 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 Ivumbu, 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.

June, 2019: Ivumbu Hand-Dug Well Complete

Ivumbu Community, Kenya now has a new source of water thanks to your donation. A hand-dug well was constructed adjacent to a sand dam (go here to check it out). The dam was constructed on the riverbed, which will build up sand to raise the water table and naturally filter water. Recent rains have helped the dam begin to build up sand and store water.

It could take up to three years of rain (because sometimes it only rains once a year!) for this sand dam to reach maximum capacity. As the sand dam matures and stores more sand, a supply of water will be available for drinking from the well. With this water, the surrounding landscape will become lush and fertile.

Construction for this well was a success!

"The water project is very beneficial to all community members," said Sila Kathungu, a farmer who lives in Ivumbu.

"We began using the water point as soon as it was completed. The distance covered to access water has reduced and the water from the shallow well is fresh and clean."

We worked with the Ivumbu Irrigation Self-Help Group for this project. The members and their families contributed materials and physical labor to complete the projects. In addition, they were trained on various skills such as bookkeeping, financial management, project management, and group dynamics/governance.

When an issue arises in relation to the water project, the group members are equipped with the necessary skills to rectify the problem and ensure it works appropriately. However, if the issue is beyond their capabilities, they can contact their field officer to assist them.

Hand-Dug Well Construction Process

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

A hole seven feet in diameter 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 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. Sand builds up around the well walls, which will naturally filter the rainwater that’s stored behind the dam.

Once the construction of the lining reaches ground level, a precast concrete slab is laid 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 builds up to the top of the wall. Until then, people will climb the concrete steps to get their water.

New Knowledge

The training was planned by the Water, Sanitation and Hygiene Officer, Veronica Matolo, and the area field officer, Rhoda Mwangu. The field officer was notified on the scheduled dates which the training would occur and later informed the community members through the group chairman.

The training went along as expected because the community members turned up in large numbers. Some 39 people attended the three days of sanitation and hygiene training.

The weather was favorable for training. We converged at a community member's homestead which was centrally positioned and easily accessed by all the attendees. The household had a friendly environment, with many trees providing good umbrella shade for people.

Trainer Matolo conferred with the field staff about their visits to households and interviews with community members to determine which topics on which still needed improvement. They decided to train on:

• Health problems in the community
• Investigating community practices
• Good and bad hygiene behaviors
• How diseases spread and preventing the spread of diseases
• Choosing sanitation improvements
• Choosing improved hygiene behaviors
• Planning for behavioral change
• Handwashing
• Soapmaking

Training demonstration

The community members were very active and attentive throughout the training. There were many questions asked which expressed their interest in the topics of discussion. Men were more involved and participative from the beginning to the end of the training. In addition, they volunteered for demonstrative exercises which made the sessions livelier and more enjoyable.

The facilitator had an in-depth discussion about the Seasonal Calendar. This is a participatory tool primarily used to explore seasonal changes in a community in relation to diseases. These charts show the trends of diseases; when they come, their causes, and their prevention mechanisms. The community highlighted their major activities often related to the contraction of diseases such as water sourcing and the probable diseases that can be contracted at different periods in a year.

The community members learned the causes and prevention of diseases that are contracted in their area. This was an eye-opening topic which gave most members a new perspective and view of their lifestyles. Members were excited because they were enlightened and impacted with new knowledge.

Community members were taught on tippy tap construction and handwashing. They also learned about the importance of using latrines in a bid to eradicate the habit of open defecation. They heard about tips such as improvising lids to cover the latrine pit hole and the importance of washing the latrines as often as possible.

Tippy tap demonstration

"The training was so intense and educative," Mr. Kathungu said.

"We plan to change our lifestyle eating habits in a bid to reduce the lifestyle diseases that are normally acquired in this area. Adopting new practices will help in administering improved hygiene and sanitation in our community because our neighbors will also copy them."

Thank You for making all of this possible.