February, 2021: Yumbani Community Sand Dam Complete!

Yumbani, 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.

We worked with the Nduti 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 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 team of field officers to assist them.

"Access to reliable, safe water is a huge relief in my life. I will no longer have to walk long distances to fetch water as the water source is adjacent to my home. Using the shallow well to draw water is very easy, and I will spend less than five minutes fetching water at the well. This is very beneficial to me as I will have enough time to engage in other developmental and income-generating activities," said Florence Munyau.

"I plan to establish a vegetable garden where I can plant vegetables such as kale, spinach, onions, and tomatoes both for domestic and agribusiness activities. Having water nearby will also enable me to engage in agroforestry projects and fruit tree planting, which are beneficial in conserving the environment."

Sand Dam

The community members collected all of the local materials like rocks and sand 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 four months.

Siting and technical designs were drawn and presented to the Water Resources Management Authority, and a survey was sent to the National Environment Management Authority 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 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 nine meters long and six meters high, taking 817 bags of cement to build.

Sand dam construction was simultaneous to constructing a hand-dug well, which gives locals a safer method of drawing water. As the sand dam matures and stores more water, more 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. However, it could take up to three years of rain for this sand dam to reach maximum capacity, since sometimes it only rains once a year!

"Access to reliable, safe water from this water point will be impactful in my life as I will not have to walk for very long distances to fetch water. Water is readily available for drinking, cooking, and farming activities. My life will be a lot easier thanks to this water project," said Sylvester Nzangu.

"I plan to utilize the water from this project for farming activities. I will farm intensely because the water is adjacent to my farm. We have been facing great challenges concerning farming and irrigation projects due to inadequate water within the region. Now that water is available in plenty, I will utilize the water to farm vegetables for sale and domestic use."

New Knowledge

The field officer in charge of the Matiliku region, Jeff Maluki, met with the group members while constructing their project and informed them about the planned WASH training. The members later agreed on a date and a central venue for the training. The local government authorities, such as the assistant chief of the area, were informed about the training, too.

The venue for this training was at Titus Maweu's homestead. Titus is a member of this group, and his homestead was a central venue to the majority of the participants. His homestead is situated 400 meters away from their second sand dam project. The weather was sunny, but the homestead had trees that provided shade for all the participants. The environment was quiet and, therefore, conducive for learning.

The attendance was excellent and as expected. Among the participants were several leaders, including a village manager, a policy leader, and a church leader. The remainder of the audience included ten men and sixteen women whose ages ranged from eighteen to ninety years old.

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 was very educative and valuable. I learned quite a lot from this training, and I intend to share the information gathered with my friends and family members. We were taught on soap-making practices which will come in handy in the implementation of proper hygiene and sanitation practices at our homes, especially during this pandemic of COVID-19," said Stephen Mwanzia.

"The training was very informative, and we have increased our knowledge on hygiene and sanitation as well as on COVID-19. This training will help us protect ourselves from coronavirus infection and improve our hygiene and sanitation at home and in our community. The liquid soap will enable us to practice proper handwashing as well as help the group generate some income from the sale of the soap and the disinfectants which we have learned today," added Eluid Kyungu.

Thank you for making all of this possible!