The Water Project: Kenya - Katung'uli Community B

We’ve teamed up with Kianguni Self-Help Group, which is composed of workers and farmers who are fighting against water and food scarcity in their region. A majority of its members are from Katung’uli Community, where they’ve already implemented one successful sand dam and well system.

68% of the group members say that they rely on casual labor as their main source of income, which involves doing odd jobs on other people’s businesses or farms. This is regardless of their level of education because from our interviews we learned that those involved in casual labor are the most literate. Only 14% of the respondents own their own farms. However, their income is seasonal, and therefore not reliable. The rest have small businesses that require them to travel to the market every day. Only 5% of the community manages to make over 10,000 shillings a month.

Water

Kianguni Group has successfully installed a sand dam and well system along with a sandy riverbed. Dozens of families are now getting their water from this system, but Katung’uli Community is in need of more clean water options. This water source is busy and is still far away from many other families living on the other side of the village. That’s why Kianguni Group has united with us to continue installing clean water systems in their area.

Those not living close enough to the clean water system are still getting their water from open holes dug in the ground. Common diseases like typhoid, bilharzia, and ringworm plague community members after they drink water from these open holes.

Sanitation

More and more households are building latrines, though many of these are basic and vary depending on the means of the family. Some don’t have doors, but just have a curtain hanging in the opening. After last year’s training, community members learned how to build a “tippy tap,” a hand-washing station made of a plastic container, sticks, and rope.

During our household visits, Mrs. Mutula and Mrs. Kanyau were gracious in letting us take pictures.

What we’re going to do:

Training

We’re going to continue training Katung’uli Community on hygiene and sanitation practices. Though our visits to households were encouraging, we want to ensure that community members are practicing the day to day habits we’re not able to observe. Food hygiene, water hygiene and treatment, personal hygiene and handwashing will all be focused on during our next review.

Sand Dam

Building this sand dam at a spot further down the river will bring water closer to hundreds of other people. After the community picked the spot, our technical team went in and proved the viability by finding a good foundation of bedrock. Now, our engineers are busy drawing up the blueprints.

We are unified with this community to address the water shortage. As more sand dams are built, the environment will continue to transform. As the sand dams mature and build up more sand, the water tables will rise. Along with these sand dams, hand-dug wells (check out the hand-dug well being installed next to this dam) will be installed to give locals a good, safe way to access that water.

With these projects, clean water will be brought closer to hundreds living around Katung’uli, including the Kanyau and Mutula families.

This project is a part of our shared program with Africa Sand Dam Foundation. Our team is pleased to provide the reports for this project (formatted and edited for readability) thanks to the hard work of our friends in Kenya.

Project Updates

06/07/2019: Giving Update: Katung'uli Sand Dam

What you might not know is that an incredible community of monthly donors has joined you in supporting clean water in Katung’uli, Kenya.

Month after month, their giving funds ongoing sustainability and support programs to help keep this sand dam working correctly. Together, we call it The Water Promise.

This update from Katung’uli proves how your giving is still having an impact on Elizabeth Nduku. We think you’ll be encouraged. Go here to read the full update.

The Water Project : kenya18174-smiles-for-reliable-water

06/25/2018: Katung'uli Community Sand Dam Complete

Katung’uli Community, Kenya now has a new source of water thanks to your donation. A new sand dam was constructed on a sandy riverbed, which will build up and to raise the water table and naturally filter water. Community members also attended hygiene and sanitation training, and plan to share what they learned with their families and neighbors.

New Knowledge

The main contact for the group was field officer Ruth Mwanzia, who is responsible for all the self-help groups in this area. She reached out to the group’s chairman who worked with the other members to decide on the best training date. They also agreed on the venue, which was at the nearby shopping center where one of the members had their own shop. Out of the 35 members, 30 attended. The other five were reportedly working on their farms to take advantage of the rainy weather.

The trainer highlighted:

– Ways to treat water

– Proper handling and storage of drinking water

– Protecting water sources

– Food preparation

– Building and using a dish drying rack

– Building and using a handwashing station

Participants’ favorite topics were on water hygiene and making soap. For water hygiene, different methods of water treatment were explained along with their pros and cons. They were interested in learning the proper dosage for water guard, and also how to use the local moringa seed to purify water. Though we had taught people how to make soap a while ago, the group members requested a review. A member told us, “Though it is the second time we learned how to make soap, the procedure has now been well understood; it was not so clear to us but now we can make quality soap.”

Being the second year of our program with Kianguni Self-Help Group, we reviewed their action plan for making improvements both on the community level and household level. Mr. Munyao Muia said, “We have not been serious in the installation of hygiene infrastructures, like for instance, construction of tippy taps (handwashing stations) and using soap to wash our hands, and water treatment. Now that we have learned the diseases that can be transmitted through taking untreated water, we will improve on that and the rate of diseases will be lowered. Because of the soap, handwashing with soap will be practiced throughout and we will teach the other family members on the same.”

Very few people were practicing water treatment since they learned about it last year. Thus, a session was devoted to teaching why and how to do so.

Sand Dam

The sand dam was constructed during the rains, and some days it would rain the entire day. Nonetheless, community members started the process by gathering all of the supplementary materials like sand, stones, and water. The collection of the raw construction materials takes longer than the actual construction. For a super large sand dam, materials collection could take up to four months.

Since it was rainy, many of the farmers realized the opportunity to get good work done on their farms. They were torn between getting this work done to earn money for their families and working on the sand dam for its long-term benefits. More people chose their farms, which led to a low number of volunteers to help our artisans at the sand dam. Anyways, it would rain so much at times that the sandy riverbed would flood, delaying any further sand dam progress.

Siting and technical designs were drawn and presented to the Water Resources Management Authority (WRMA) and a survey sent to the National Environment Management Authority (NEMA) for approval before construction started. Once approved, we established firm bedrock at the base of the sand dam wall. In the absence of good bedrock, excavation is done up to a depth at which the technical team is satisfied that the ground is firm enough to stop seepage.

Then mortar (a mixture of sand, cement, and water) is mixed and heaped into the foundation. Rocks are heaped into the mortar once there is enough to hold. Barbed wire and twisted bar are used to reinforce the mixture. Once the foundation is complete, a skeleton of timber is built to hold the sludge and rocks up above ground level. The process is then repeated until a sufficient height, width and length are built up. The vertical timber beams are dismantled and the dam is left to cure.

Despite challenges, the group members persevered and finished a sand dam 63.2 meters long and 4.25 meters high. It took a whopping 585 bags of cement to build.

The bags of cement delivered to the sand dam construction site.

As soon as it rains, the dam will begin to build up sand and store water. With this water, the surrounding landscape will become lush and fertile. 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. This is well worth the wait in such a water scarce region. Mr. Muia said, “This project will be a big revelation to the community. It will hold more water and top up on the already existing water from our first sand dam. Water access in the whole village will be greatly improved as many people will now be served by the water points. It is the joy of everyone to have water at these close ranges.”

Sand dam construction was undertaken simultaneously with the construction of a hand-dug well which gives community members a safe method of drawing water. As the sand dam matures and stores more water, more of it will be accessible as drinking water from the well.

To see that hand-dug well, click here.

The Water Project : 17-kenya18174-finished-sand-dam

03/26/2018: Katung'uli Community Sand Dam Underway

A severe clean water shortage still affects hundreds of families living in Katung’uli Community. Families are having to walk long distances to find clean water, wasting hours of time and tons of energy. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install a clean water point nearby and much more.

Get to know your 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!