Project Status



Project Type:  Dug Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Southeastern Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 300 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Aug 2024

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 11/12/2024

Project Features


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The 1,600 people of the Katavui Community struggle to access sufficient water. Women and children are forced to travel long distances to collect water from a scoop hole (seen below), which is little more than a puddle in the sand, contaminated by animals and people alike.

Field Officer Alex Koech said, "The people (mostly women and children) wake up at dawn to search for water from the seasonal Kaliluni River. They walk for about 3 hours to the scoop hole at Kaliluni River. They have to wake up early. Otherwise, the water at the scoop hole runs out, and they have to wait till it collects more water."

The only other option is a well that is even further away. People in this community already have minimal resources, and this distance costs too much time and energy.

Alex continued, "[They] walk 5 kilometers (over 3 miles) to the community borehole before going back home towards the evening. Since most community members carry water on their backs, it has led to back aches and leg pain, especially among the elderly women."

"Despite my old age, I still have to fetch water for my family. The long journey while carrying water on my back has caused back and leg pain. Nowadays, I walk with a slight limp because of my left leg, which pains [me] a lot when [I] fetch water. Walking to the water point and then back home is also a tedious affair. I barely get time to focus on activities such as hygiene and sanitation or tending to livestock," said 55-year-old farmer Anastasia Mutave Mangala, seen below.

Children are just as affected by the water crisis.

10-year-old Kevin M. said, "I often accompany my mother to the water point to fetch water from the distant borehole after school. Thus, I do not have time to wash my clothes because I get tired from the long, exhaustive journey. I also go to school severely [late] without performing personal hygiene because I have to carry the little available water to school to quench my thirst."

"This affects [my] self-esteem and confidence and ultimately my academic performance. We are also often given agriculture and arts homework, which are difficult to perform because there is no water," Kevin continued.

The installation of the dug well will enable people like Anastasia and Kevin to focus on enhancing their futures through education and activities to improve their lives instead of spending all their time and energy collecting unsafe water.

"With the implementation of the water project, I will have enough clean water to drink and perform personal hygiene. My confidence in class will improve, and it will be easier to interact with fellow classmates," Kevin concluded.

Helping to solve the water crisis in this community will take a multi-faceted system. It requires the collaboration of the hand-dug well and a sand dam. They will work together to create a sustainable water source that will serve this community for years to come.

Note: Our proposed water point can only serve 300 people per day. We hope to continue working with this community to identify other water solutions that will ensure all of the people in this community have access to safe and reliable drinking water.

The Proposed Solution, Determined Together...

At The Water Project, everyone has a part in conversations and solutions. We operate in transparency, believing it benefits everyone. We expect reliability from one another as well as our water solutions. Everyone involved makes this possible through hard work and dedication.

In a joint discovery process, community members determine their most advantageous water solution alongside our technical experts. Read more specifics about this solution on the What We're Building tab of this project page. Then, community members lend their support by collecting needed construction materials (sometimes for months ahead of time!), providing labor alongside our artisans, sheltering and feeding the builders, and supplying additional resources.

Water Access for Everyone

This water project is one piece in a large puzzle. In Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, we're working toward complete coverage of reliable, maintained water sources that guarantee public access now and in the future within a 30-minute round trip for each community, household, school, and health center. One day, we hope to report that this has been achieved!

Training on Health, Hygiene & More

With the community's input, we've identified topics where training will increase positive health outcomes at personal, household, and community levels. We'll coordinate with them to find the best training date. Some examples of what we train communities on are:

  • Improved hygiene, health, and sanitation habits
  • Safe water handling, storage & treatment
  • Disease prevention and proper handwashing
  • Income-generation
  • Community leadership, governance, & election of a water committee
  • Operation and maintenance of the water point

Project Updates


August, 2024: Katavui Community Hand-Dug Well Complete!

Katavui Community, Kenya, now has a new water source, thanks to your donation! We constructed a new hand-dug well adjacent to a new sand dam on the riverbed. The sand dam will build up sand to raise the water table and naturally filter water, while the well will provide a safer method of drawing drinking water for the community.

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 in this region! As the sand dam matures and stores more sand, the surrounding landscape will become lush and fertile, and the well will fill with water.

"The community was enthusiastic about the project and came every day to do the hard labor. They also mobilized the local materials, that is stones, sand, and ballast (rock). They were resilient and hardworking, and even though they encountered challenges such as difficulty in finding the bedrock and looking for stones, they managed to complete the project," shared Field Officer Alex Koech.

16-year-old Tabitha is very excited about the possibilities that come with clean, accessible water!

"I will no longer spend most of my time walking to distant borehole[s] [and] then back home because this water point is very close to my home. We will also have enough water to conduct hygiene duties at home and also cultivate vegetables for subsistence purposes. We will also be drinking clean water that is not saline like the one we used to draw from the borehole," said Tabitha.

"My mother will now be able [to] grow vegetables at home that she will be selling to pay for my school fees. She will also have time to focus on farming because getting water now is much easier," continued Tabitha.

Tabitha.

"I recently finished secondary school, and I am happy that I will be able to join a good nursing school and complete the course as planned because my parents will be able to pay the school fees using the money they get from farming," Tabitha said.

Hand-Dug Well Construction Process

Construction for this well was a success!

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. When all the materials were ready, it was time to dig in!

First, we excavated a hole seven feet in diameter up to the recommended depth of 25 feet. (Most hand-dug wells do not reach that depth due to hard rocks between 10-18 feet.) As planned, the diameter shrank to 5 feet when the well lining was complete. This lining is made of brick and mortar with perforations to allow water to seep through. When the well is finished, sand builds up around its walls, which will filter the rainwater stored behind the dam.

Once the lining reached ground level, we laid a precast concrete slab on top of the lining and joined it to the wall using mortar. The concrete dried for two weeks before installation. We fixed four bolts onto the slab during casting in preparation for the hand pump's installation.

Next, the mechanics arrived to install the pump as community members watched, learning how to manage simple maintenance tasks. We 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 use concrete steps to get their water. After installing the pump, we gave the well another few days to let the joints dry.

Well is complete!

For this project, we worked with the Katavui Self-Help Group. The members and their families contributed tremendous amounts of materials and physical labor.

New Knowledge

Our trainer conferred with the field staff about previous household visits and interviews with community members to determine which topics the community could improve upon.

Throughout the three days of training, 12 participants were active and engaged. Trainer Veronica Matolo worked with the group to debunk myths that have been passed down from generation to generation. Then, the group learned about fecal disease transmission routes and how to prevent infection. They now have the tools to lead healthier lives!

Handwash training.

We trained the group on various skills, including bookkeeping, financial management, project management, group dynamics, and governance. We also conducted hygiene and sanitation training to teach skills like soap- and detergent-making and improve behaviors such as handwashing.

We also touched on health problems in the community, good and bad hygiene behaviors, the spread and prevention of disease, and sanitation improvements. We covered natural resource management and the operations and maintenance of the well.

Disease prevention training.

"This training will be so beneficial to us in so many ways, from prevention of diseases through improved hygiene to financial stability at group and personal levels. [The] installation of sanitation infrastructures will help us maintain good hygiene and eradicate common diseases that have been an issue in our community for a while," shared 36-year-old Raphael Muthui.

Raphael.

The knowledge will be shared [with] other people in our area and emphasize so much on the importance of hygienic practices," he concluded.

Conclusion

This project required a substantial collaboration between our staff, our in-country teams, and the community members. When an issue arises concerning the well, 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 local field officers to assist them.

Also, we will continue to offer them unmatchable support as a part of our monitoring and maintenance program. We walk with each community, problem-solving together when they face challenges with functionality, seasonality, or water quality. Together, all these components help us strive for enduring access to reliable, clean, and safe water for this community.

With your contribution, one more piece has been added to a large puzzle of water projects. In Kenya, Uganda, and Sierra Leone, we’re working toward complete coverage. That means reliable, maintained water sources within a 30-minute round trip for each community, household, school, and health center. With this in mind, search through our upcoming projects to see which community you can help next!

Thank you for making all of this possible!




June, 2024: Katavui Community Dug Well Underway!

The lack of adequate water in Katavui Community costs people time, energy, and health every single day. Clean water scarcity contributes to community instability and diminishes individuals’ personal progress.

But thanks to your recent generosity, things will soon improve here. We are now working to install a reliable water point and improve hygiene standards. We look forward to sharing inspiring news in the near future!




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.


Contributors

Project Sponsor - Lifeplus Foundation
1 individual donor(s)