August, 2020: Through Their Eyes: COVID-19 Chronicles with Musili Kyulu

This post is part of a new series by The Water Project meant to highlight the perspectives and experiences of the people we serve and how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting them. We invite you to read more of their stories here.

Our team recently visited Musili Kyulu to conduct COVID-19 prevention training and monitor their water point. We checked in on the community and asked how the pandemic is affecting their lives.

During this most recent visit, Musili shared his story of how the coronavirus has impacted his life.

Musili Kyulu

Our staff met Musili outside his home to conduct the interview. Our team and Musili observed physical distancing and other precautions throughout the visit to ensure their health and safety. The following is Musili's story, in his own words.

How has COVID-19 impacted your family?

"My income situation has significantly deteriorated in this time of the coronavirus. I work as an artisan, building houses and making repairs within the local community, but there are no jobs nowadays. Many people are spending the little they get on food and upkeep, leading to a lack of jobs. I have been left to survive on food from my small farm to feed my children."

What steps is Kenya taking to prevent the spread of the virus?

"The government has imposed movement curfews across the country with no movement of people being allowed past 7 PM up to 5 AM. Counties with high cases of the virus have also been locked. No movement is allowed in and out of the counties to control its spread to other areas. The government is also encouraging handwashing and mask-wearing in a bid to control the spread of the virus."

Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Kenya, has fetching water changed for you because of restrictions, new rules, or your concerns about the virus?

"We just completed the construction of a dam and shallow well within our community. Water is now available in large quantities for all of us and from within. Everyone can walk down to the well and draw water for household use and drinking. This is a great improvement from the previous situation of drawing water from river scoop holes."

How has having a clean water point helped you through the pandemic so far?

"The well has clean water. Water is essential in making us adhere to government directives of washing hands with soap and clean water in the fight against coronavirus. Having water from within our village is also helping reduce movement to a distant place, which works well in the fight against the disease."

How has getting food been at this time?

"Now that I am no longer working and earning money, I have depended on the small farm produce harvested from my farm in the last rain season where I harvested maize, cowpeas, and green grams. They have become the main food items in our menu while also being supplemented by cassavas available in the shamba. I have not been able to afford some shopping items obtained from retail outlets because of lack of enough income."

June, 2020: Nzimba Community Sand Dam Complete!

Please note, all photos in this report were taken before social distancing recommendations went into effect.

Nzimba, Kenya now has access to a new source of water thanks to your donation. A new sand dam was constructed on a sandy riverbed, which will build up sand to raise the water table and naturally filter water.

"Having water from within our village will be a big boost to me and my family as well as the community at large," said Mwendwa Maithya, a 56-year-old farmer who lives near the dam.

"There will be an adequate supply of clean water for drinking which will lead to improved hygiene and sanitation levels and also lead to healthy people. The time I initially spent on getting water can now be utilized for other activities such as farming and trade."

We worked with the Kasilu Self-Help Group for this project. The members and their families contributed materials and physical labor to complete the project. In addition, 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 to help 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 team of field officers to assist them.

Sand Dam

The community members collected all of the local materials like rocks and sand that were required for the successful completion of the dam. They also provided labor to support our artisans. The collection of raw construction materials takes longer than the actual construction. For a large sand dam, materials collection could take up to 4 months.

Siting and technical designs were drawn and presented to the Water Resources Management Authority and a survey sent to the National Environment Management Authority for approval before construction started. Once approved, we established a 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 rebar are used to reinforce the mixture.

Once the foundation is complete, a skeleton of timber is built to hold up the sludge and rocks 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.

This dam measures 31 meters long and 3 meters high. It took 480 bags of cement to build.

Sand dam construction was simultaneous to the construction of a hand-dug well, which gives locals a safer 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.

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 3 years of rain for this sand dam to reach maximum capacity, however, since sometimes it only rains once a year!

"I will now be able to access water more easily and with eased convenience than before. This is because water is now available from within our village without the long walks," said Eunice Makasi.

New Knowledge

The area Field officer for Nguuku/Musosya region Stephen Mwangangi in collaboration with Judith Kituta planned for the training and agreed on the best possible dates. After a date was agreed upon, Mr. Mwangangi informed the community leaders who then told all the community members and invited them for the training. The area assistant chief and village elders were also notified and requested for the training.

The trainer conferred with the field staff about their previous visits to households and interviews with community members to determine which topics the community still 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.

Soapmaking

The training was held at the New Apostolic Church Nzimba. It had enough space to accommodate all attending members, and the environment was conducive for the training. Being a sunny day, everyone enjoyed the training session. The weather was favorable for everyone, and the training turned out a success for the community.

Handwashing demonstration

During the discussion on the causes of malaria, some community members cited tsetse flies as the cause. This created a scene of laughter for a majority of the members in attendance. The misunderstanding was corrected and the people were informed that mosquito bites caused malaria and that tsetse flies caused sleeping sickness. This made the topic one of the most memorable.

"The training has been beneficial and quite informative," said Mutiso Kondo after the training.

"The knowledge on handwashing and construction of a simple tippy tap will lead to improved health levels in our community."

Thank you for making all of this possible!

May, 2020: Nzimba Community sand dam underway!

A severe clean water shortage in Nzimba, Kenya drains community members’ 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!