Rehabilitation Project
Reliable Water for Wandei Community
Our main entry point into Wandei Community has been the Wangu Youth Group, which is comprised of young people 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.
Due to the issue of water scarcity in their region, the communities have been digging scoopholes along the dry river bed in order to access water. The scoopholes are open sources that are exposed to various contaminants such as animal waste, human activity, farm chemicals among other pathogens.
"Having to fetch water from these scoopholes can be very exhausting, as I am growing older and I have issues with my leg," said community member, Grace Musui. "It is very strenuous to go down to the scoopholes to fetch water every day."
The proposed project is a shallow well that will provide the community members with a safe and protected water source.
"Insufficient water supply at home impacts our lives very negatively," added Grace's neighbor, Elizabeth Mutilli. "We lack water for proper hygiene and sanitation practices, because here we have no donkey and we have to ferry the twenty-liter jerrycans on our backs."
Hand-Dug Well
This particular hand-dug well will be built adjacent to a sand dam project, 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 bring clean water closer to families.
New Knowledge
These community members currently do their best to practice good hygiene and sanitation, but their severe lack of water has been a big hindrance to reaching their fullest potential.
We will hold hygiene and sanitation training sessions with the Self-Help Group and other community members to teach about important hygiene practices and daily habits to establish at the personal, household, and community level. This training will help to ensure that participants have the knowledge they need to make the most out of their new water point as soon as water is flowing.
One of the most important topics we plan to cover is the handling, storage, and treatment of water. Having a clean water source will be extremely helpful, but it is useless if water gets contaminated by the time it is consumed. We will also emphasize the importance of handwashing.
We and the community strongly believe that all of these components will work together to improve living standards here, which will help to unlock the potential for these community members to live better, healthier lives.
We typically work with self-help groups for 3 to 5 years on multiple water projects. We will conduct follow-up visits and refresher trainings during this period and remain in contact with the group after all of the projects are completed to support their efforts to improve sanitation and hygiene.
