April, 2021: Mathanguni Community Well Complete!

Mathanguni 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 for this sand dam to reach maximum capacity because sometimes it only rains once a year. As the sand dam matures and stores more sand, a water supply will be available for drinking from the well. With this water, the surrounding landscape will become lush and fertile.

There was no official celebration conducted to dedicate the water point due to the COVID-19 pandemic. However, the community members expressed their gratitude and appreciation for the support granted in constructing the water point. They stated that it would be helpful to them in providing access to clean drinking water and water for irrigation purposes.

"We are now accessing water easily, and we do not have to walk for long distances as we used to. We have plenty of water for farming, watering the trees, for our livestock, and for drinking as well. My life has become more comfortable than it was before," said farmer Benson Matata.

"I plan to plant vegetables for sale and domestic use. I had planted trees in my homestead. Now I will add more trees as there is plenty of water for use on this project."

Hand-Dug Well

Construction for this well was a success!

"Access to reliable and safe water has helped me. Our livestock can get water within a short range of distance near my home. I can now fetch water easily with minimal strain, which ensures the household duties assigned to me are completed on time," said teenager Samuel.

Samuel at the well.

We worked with the Kakwa Self-Help Group for this project. The members and their families contributed materials and physical labor to complete the project. They were trained on various skills such as bookkeeping, financial management, project management, group dynamics, and governance. We also conducted a hygiene and sanitation training to teach skills like soapmaking and improve behaviors such as handwashing.

When an issue arises concerning 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 our field officers 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 7 feet in diameter is excavated up to a recommended depth of 25 feet. (Most hand-dug wells do not reach that depth due to hard rocks between 10-18 ft.).

The diameter shrinks to 5 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 stored behind the dam.

Once 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 for 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 dry the joints completely. Our team installed the pump level with the top of the sand dam. As the dam matures, sand will build up to the top of the wall. Until then, people will climb the concrete steps to get their water.

New Knowledge

We informed the self-help group members of the need for a hygiene and sanitation refresher training after completing their fourth sand dam and shallow well project construction. They were required to attend the training alongside other interested community members.

The field officer in charge of the Matiliku region, Jeff Maluki, notified them of the training date after scheduling with WASH officer Christine Lucas. The trainer conferred with the field staff about their previous visits to households and interviews with community members to determine which topics the community could improve upon.

They decided to train on topics including health problems in the community, good and bad hygiene behaviors, how diseases spread and their prevention, choosing sanitation improvements, choosing improved hygiene behaviors, planning for behavioral change, handwashing, and soapmaking.

The training venue was at one of the self-help group member’s homesteads. It was chosen for its central location, making it easily accessible to all the members. The availability of enough outdoor space that could accommodate all the participants made the venue very suitable. The homestead was also located approximately 100 meters away from their fourth sand dam and shallow well project, enabling the participants to easily access water for use during the training.

All the members were interested in stirring the soap during the soapmaking exercise. They took turns in stirring and were very patient until the soap was done. The members agreed to sell liquid soap. The self-help group will use the profit generated from this project for the benefit of the group. The members would buy additional materials at Matiliku town.

This topic was interesting because, in stirring the soap, there arose a discussion on how to bake a cake whereby one of the members explained to the rest that one is not supposed to change the stirring direction when baking a cake. This discussion helped the participants understand more about why we only stir in one direction when making the liquid soap as well.

Mixing the soap.

"The soapmaking training has been very helpful to me as I can now make soap and disinfectant, which helps improve the hygiene and sanitation standards at home," said Grace Kilisya.

Mixing chemicals to make soap

While demonstrating how diarrheal diseases are spread, a donkey that belonged to the host of the training started braying by making the “heehaw” sound. The donkey was noisy and interrupted the training session. The training stopped for a while as the attention of the members was diverted to the donkey. The donkey owner had to calm it down by giving it some water to drink.

"The training has been an eye-opener to me. I have learned how human excretion can get back to our bodies when disposed of inappropriately and make us sick. I will encourage my family members, especially my grandchildren, always to use the latrine to avoid contracting diarrheal diseases," shared Grace.

Thank you for making all of this possible!

March, 2021: Mathanguni Community hand-dug well underway!

A severe clean water shortage at Mathanguni Community drains peoples’ time, energy, and health. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install a clean water point and much more.

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