Regina is Empowered by Water Access!

February, 2025

A year ago, your generous donation helped the Muthungue Community in Kenya access clean water – creating a life-changing moment for Regina. Thank you!

Last year, your gift unlocked the potential for a brighter future for Regina. Since then, she and the 250 residents of Muthungue Community have had clean, reliable water. Your contribution has made a significant impact. Thank you for making a difference!

"I am no longer a frequent patient at the hospital because we are drinking clean water, unlike before when we had to survive on the contaminated water drawn from scoop holes at Katse River." - Ms. Regina Mulalya.

Before the Sand Dam Installation

Like many in Kenya, Regina is responsible for collecting water to meet daily water needs. Before last year’s water intervention, this task stole her time and negatively affected her.

The incredible distance to the well made any other activity very challenging. Drinking the water had severe consequences. Many in the community suffered from waterborne diseases that created health problems, affecting their daily lives. Limited accessibility also meant people wasted time collecting sufficient water to meet their needs. The difficult journey to collect water sapped their physical and emotional energy, creating roadblocks. For Ms. Mulalya, in particular, it lessened her opportunity to cultivate enough crops to provide an income for her and her family.

"Getting water in the past was difficult. Some of us still had to go to Katse River, where one would spend up to 5 hours fetching water, then come back home. I would get tired from the journey and [was] left with little time to focus on handling household chores. Therefore, the water was not enough for cooking, irrigating crops, or conducting personal hygiene duties like washing garments," she shared.

Since the Sand Dam Installation

Your generous gift last year was much more than a simple donation; it was a powerful statement about your commitment to this community and Regina’s future. By supporting the water solution, you made clean water an everyday reality, fostering hope for a brighter future.

Reliable and clean water lays the groundwork for improved health, education, and economic possibilities, allowing people to thrive. We frequently hear from those we interview that "water is life!"

"This waterpoint is very close, and I can even send my child here to come and draw water," she continued.

Regina and friends tend to tree saplings.

The Future is Looking Bright!

A year ago, you made a difference for Regina and the rest of her community. This is just the first chapter of their story as access to clean water continues to improve their lives!

At The Water Project, we value sustainability and want to ensure that people continue to thrive. We commit to monitoring this project to ensure the water is always flowing and safe to consume. We inspect the system hardware, track water availability, conduct sanitary inspections, and collect water quality samples to identify risks. We work with our team on the ground to resolve them.

You gave Regina a crucial tool for achieving her dreams: access to clean water. Together, we can excitedly expect that with this precious resource, her enthusiasm and courage will help fulfill dreams.

"I have managed to set up a kitchen garden in my home. We have set up a tree nursery and have been planting the tree seedlings in our farms after distributing [them] amongst the members," she shared.

"I am hoping to cultivate more land so I can plant vegetables because [the] water is now nearby and enough. I will be able to sell the produce to other community members and earn an income," she concluded.

The tree nursery the community has been able to cultivate since the waterpoint was implemented.

Navigating through intense dry spells, performing preventative maintenance, conducting quality repairs when needed and continuing to assist community leaders to manage water points are all normal parts of keeping projects sustainable. The Water Promise community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Muthungue Community 1A maintain access to safe, reliable water.

We’d love for you to join this world-changing group committed to sustainability.

The most impactful way to continue your support of Muthungue Community 1A – and hundreds of other places just like this – is by joining our community of monthly givers.

Your monthly giving will help provide clean water, every month... keeping The Water Promise.

Project Status



Project Type: Sand Dam

Regional Program: Southeastern Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 250 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Feb 2024

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 02/21/2025

Project Features


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Community Profile

The 250 people of Muthungue would love to have enough water to accomplish all their daily tasks like cooking, cleaning, and laundry, but with the distance to the water point being so far, they simply can't manage it.

Because acquiring water takes such a long time, people in Muthungue get less of it. Without water to do essential daily tasks, people’s normal routines are disrupted, and important things like working and going to school are challenging.

Rather than making the several-kilometer journey to the nearest protected shallow well, some community members opt to fetch water from closer, less reliable sources: holes dug into dry riverbeds shared with wildlife and domestic animals. But this understandable compromise has consequences for their health, given that these sources are salty and contaminated.

"At times, I often get stomach upsets, especially when it's very dry and the sun is scorching, because I tend to dig a scoop hole nearby so that I reduce the distance," said 11-year-old Eunice M (pictured below).

Others within the same Self-Help Group have built sand dams with shallow wells in the best spot to ensure that water stays where it's needed. However, those on the fringes of the community have the same problems as before these interventions were made.

"Water scarcity currently is affecting me as my family lives very far [away] from the sand dam already constructed," said Eunice. "I have to walk long distances when I come back from school to get water. There are sand dams in the area, but [they] currently don't serve the whole community and the larger part. If we get another sand dam, it will be a boost for us because we will walk short distances. I will also be able to attend to other duties at my home and work on proper hygiene and sanitation. I shall also get to have enough time to play and do my homework."

"Members opt to fetch water from other sources such as scoop holes, which are prone to contamination, and therefore [they fall] sick," said farmer Phoebe Mutei Kitheka (pictured below). "Sometimes, when it gets very dry here, the shallow wells get flocked, forcing half of the population to look for water in the scoop holes."

Phoebe shared why another sand dam and shallow well will help solve the community's problem. "If we get another sand dam in the area, we will be able to harvest more water for the community to use and also reduce the distance covered by members. This will reduce the sicknesses reported, especially for community members who don't have easy access to clean water. Implementing another sand dam will assure a larger percentage of the community [has] access to clean water for drinking, cleaning, cooking, and agricultural activities, hence improving our income security."

What We Can Do:

Our main entry point into the community is the Self-Help Group, which comprises households working together to address water and food scarcity in their region. These members will be our hands and feet in constructing water projects and spreading the message of good hygiene and sanitation to everyone.

Sand Dam

After the community picked the ideal 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 this sand dam, a hand-dug well will be installed to give community members an easy, safe way to access that water.

Building this sand dam and the well in this community will help bring clean water closer to the many people living here.

Training

These community members currently do their best to practice good hygiene and sanitation, but their severe lack of water has significantly hindered reaching their fullest potential.

We will hold hygiene and sanitation training sessions with the Self-Help Group and other community members to teach essential hygiene practices and daily habits to establish at the personal, household, and community level. This training will help to ensure that participants have the knowledge they need to make the most out of their new water point as soon as the water is flowing.

One of the most important topics we plan to cover is handling, storage, and water treatment. Having a clean water source will be extremely helpful, but it is useless if water gets contaminated when it is consumed. We will also emphasize the importance of handwashing.

The community and we firmly believe that all of these components will work together to improve living standards here, which will help to unlock the potential for these community members to live better, healthier lives.

We typically work with self-help groups for 3 to 5 years on multiple water projects. We will conduct follow-up visits and refresher training during this period and remain in contact with the group after all of the projects are completed to support their efforts to improve sanitation and hygiene.

Project Updates


February, 2024: Muthungue Community Sand Dam Complete!

Muthungue Community, Kenya, now has access to a new water source, thanks to your donation! We constructed a new sand dam on the riverbed, which will build up sand to raise the water table and naturally filter water over time. We also built a new hand-dug well with a hand pump adjacent to the sand dam, providing the community with a safer method to draw drinking water supplied by the dam.

"When I was not in school, I had to help my parents draw water from the scoop holes about 5 kilometers from home. Apart from [the] wastage of time and energy, I would experience pain in my leg muscles and had to spend the rest of the day resting. That will no longer be [the] scenario because this water point is close to my home, and I can spend the extra time on my studies or interacting with my friends," said 15-year-old George M.

George.

"Going to school without taking a shower for days while wearing [an] unclean uniform would negatively [affect] my confidence in class because water had to be used sparingly at home. The little available water was mostly used for cooking and drinking. Also, the exhaustion from the long walks to the scoop holes affected my studies because I was often too tired with no time to focus on my studies. The implementation of this waterpoint near our home means I can conduct personal hygiene, and I do not have to embark on the long journey in search of water. I will get more time to study so that I can become an engineer in [the] future," continued George.

Sand Dam Construction Process

The members of the Muthungue Women's Self-Help Group collected all of the local materials, like rocks and sand, required to complete the dam. The collection of raw materials takes longer than the actual construction, lasting up to four months for a large sand dam. The group also dedicated their time and energy to support our artisans with physical labor throughout the project.

First, our team drew siting and technical designs and presented them to the Water Resources Management Authority. We also sent a survey to the National Environment Management Authority for approval before we began construction.

The Self-Help Group collecting building materials.

Once the plans were approved, we established firm bedrock at the base of the sand dam wall. In the absence of good bedrock, we excavate to a depth at which the ground is compact enough to stop seepage.

Next, we mixed and heaped mortar (a mixture of sand, cement, and water) into the foundation, followed by rocks once there was enough mortar. We then used barbed wire and rebar to reinforce the mixture.

Building the timber frame for the sand dam.

Once the foundation was complete, we built a timber skeleton to hold the sludge and rocks above ground level. Once our first layer dried, we repeated the process until reaching a sufficient height, width, and length.

Finally, we dismantled the vertical timber beams and left the dam to cure. This dam measures 41 meters long and 2 meters high and took 515 bags of cement to build.

The completed sand dam is already collecting water.

As it rains, the dam will build up sand and store water. With this water, the surrounding landscape will become lush and fertile, and the well will provide drinking water to the community. It could take up to three years of rain for this sand dam to reach maximum capacity because, in this region, sometimes it only rains once a year!

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.

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 sand dam.

The training covered how to make soap and disinfectant, so community members have that skill going forward to help improve their hygiene and possibly use it to provide more income.

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!




December, 2023: Muthungue Community Sand Dam Project Underway!

The lack of adequate water in Muthungue 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



Contributors

18 individual donor(s)