Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Program: Wells for Kenya

Impact: 500 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - May 2010

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 03/14/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

This new well project serves a community of nearly 800 people in the Kakamega area of Western Kenya.

The project is led by and also serves the Mama Sukuma Self Help Women's group.

Their former water source was a muddy, seasonal and contaminated stream over 4km away (seen below).  It took nearly two hours every day, just to collect water from this unsafe source.

That has all changed.

Our implementer in the field filed this report on July 12, 2010 about the day they handed over the project. (unedited)

"Bridge Water Project Officers visit was when the community had some funeral around and this did not allow for meetings with many community members as you can see from the picture, however from Mama Sukuma Chair lady [held] brief discussions with BWP officers, it was apparent that availability of this hand pump scheme within the hospital grounds has enhanced a great impact on the health and well being of the patients in the hospital and local community.She also added that this well has contributed to the availability of enough water to the maternity rooms in the hospital, it has also resulted to the construction of the hospital kitchen (seen below), saved time for the local community members to do other things in their areas of operations i.e planting of sukuma wiki, dairy farming, bricks making which has become manageable through the provision of this clean and safe drinking water within hospital grounds. In her conclusion she was very thankful to The Water Project for providing them with this basic tool and that they should continue having the same spirit of helping people who have no voice and they are in need of clean and safe drinking water."

As you can see, access to clean, safe water can do much more then providing a drink - as critical as that is.  Food security, improved health care and even increased construction of better shelter becomes possible.

Water transforms communities.

 

We're just getting started, check back soon!


Project Photos


Project Type

Abundant water is often right under our feet! Beneath the Earth’s surface, rivers called aquifers flow through layers of sediment and rock, providing a constant supply of safe water. For borehole wells, we drill deep into the earth, allowing us to access this water which is naturally filtered and protected from sources of contamination at the surface level. First, we decide where to drill by surveying the area and determining where aquifers are likely to sit. To reach the underground water, our drill rigs plunge through meters (sometimes even hundreds of meters!) of soil, silt, rock, and more. Once the drill finds water, we build a well platform and attach a hand pump. If all goes as planned, the community is left with a safe, closed water source providing around five gallons of water per minute! Learn more here!


Sponsors


48 individual donors
Japanese Weekend School
First United Methodist Church - Albany