Katavui Community A

Project Status

Project Type: Sand Dam

Regional Program: Southeastern Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 1,300 Served

Project Phase: In Service - Nov 2024

Functionality Status: Functional

Project Features

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The 1,600 people of the Katavui Community struggle to access sufficient water. Women and children are forced to travel long distances to collect water from a scoop hole (seen below), which is little more than a puddle in the sand, contaminated by animals and people alike.

Field Officer Alex Koech said, "The people (mostly women and children) wake up at dawn to search for water from the seasonal Kaliluni River. They walk for about 3 hours to the scoop hole at Kaliluni River. They have to wake up early. Otherwise, the water at the scoop hole runs out, and they have to wait till it collects more water."

The only other option is a well that is even further away. People in this community already have minimal resources, and this distance costs too much time and energy.

Alex continued, "[They] walk 5 kilometers (over 3 miles) to the community borehole before going back home towards the evening. Since most community members carry water on their backs, it has led to back aches and leg pain, especially among the elderly women."

"Despite my old age, I still have to fetch water for my family. The long journey while carrying water on my back has caused back and leg pain. Nowadays, I walk with a slight limp because of my left leg, which pains [me] a lot when [I] fetch water. Walking to the water point and then back home is also a tedious affair. I barely get time to focus on activities such as hygiene and sanitation or tending to livestock," said 55-year-old farmer Anastasia Mutave Mangala, seen below.

Children are just as affected by the water crisis.

10-year-old Kevin M. said, "I often accompany my mother to the water point to fetch water from the distant borehole after school. Thus, I do not have time to wash my clothes because I get tired from the long, exhaustive journey. I also go to school severely [late] without performing personal hygiene because I have to carry the little available water to school to quench my thirst."

"This affects [my] self-esteem and confidence and ultimately my academic performance. We are also often given agriculture and arts homework, which are difficult to perform because there is no water," Kevin continued.

The installation of the sand dam will enable people like Anastasia and Kevin to focus on enhancing their futures through education and activities to improve their lives instead of spending all their time and energy collecting unsafe water.

"With the implementation of the water project, I will have enough clean water to drink and perform personal hygiene. My confidence in class will improve, and it will be easier to interact with fellow classmates," Kevin concluded.

Helping to solve the water crisis in this community will take a multi-faceted system. It requires the collaboration of the sand dam and a hand-dug well. They will work together to create a sustainable water source that will serve this community for years to come.

The Proposed Solution, Determined Together...

At The Water Project, everyone has a part in conversations and solutions. We operate in transparency, believing it benefits everyone. We expect reliability from one another as well as our water solutions. Everyone involved makes this possible through hard work and dedication.

In a joint discovery process, community members determine their most advantageous water solution alongside our technical experts. Read more specifics about this solution on the What We're Building tab of this project page. Then, community members lend their support by collecting needed construction materials (sometimes for months ahead of time!), providing labor alongside our artisans, sheltering and feeding the builders, and supplying additional resources.

Water Access for Everyone

This water project is one piece in a large puzzle. In Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, we're working toward complete coverage of reliable, maintained water sources that guarantee public access now and in the future within a 30-minute round trip for each community, household, school, and health center. One day, we hope to report that this has been achieved!

Training on Health, Hygiene & More

With the community's input, we've identified topics where training will increase positive health outcomes at personal, household, and community levels. We'll coordinate with them to find the best training date. Some examples of what we train communities on are:

Improved hygiene, health, and sanitation habits
Safe water handling, storage & treatment
Disease prevention and proper handwashing
Income-generation
Community leadership, governance, & election of a water committee
Operation and maintenance of the water point

Project Updates

November, 2024: Katavui Community Sand Dam Complete!

Katavui Community, Kenya now has access to a new water source thanks to your donation! We constructed a sand dam on the riverbed, which will 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 the drinking water supplied by the dam.

The sand dam is complete!

"This waterpoint is beneficial for all of us; for instance, my children will no longer have to walk several kilometers when they need water for use at home. They will use the saved time to focus on improving themselves in terms of studies and personal growth. My children will also be living in a more conducive environment because we will have enough water to conduct hygiene duties at home. They will also be eating a balanced diet now that this water point will enable me [to] plant vegetables that will supplement their diet," shared 51-year-old Mary Mwekya, a local farmer in the Katavui Community.

Mary standing on the sand dam.

Sand Dam Construction

The members of the Katavui 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 to support our artisans with a tremendous amount of physical labor throughout the project.

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

Once the plans were approved, we established a firm base for the sand dam wall. Usually, this requires the community to dig all the way down to the bedrock beneath the river channel. In the absence of good bedrock, we excavate to a depth at which the ground is compact enough to stop seepage.

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

Once the foundation was complete, we built a timber skeleton to hold the structure above ground level. 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 43 meters long and 3 meters high and took 950 bags of cement!

When the rains come, sand and silt will be carried down the dry riverbed and built up behind the dam wall. This reservoir of sand acts as a giant natural filter and allows rainwater to seep into the ground and raise the water table. 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.

Throughout the three days of training, 12 participants were active and engaged. Trainer Veronica Matolo worked with the group to debunk myths that have been passed down from generation to generation. Then, the group learned about fecal disease transmission routes and how to prevent infection. They now have the tools to lead healthier lives!

Handwash training.

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 well.

Disease prevention training.

"This training will be so beneficial to us in so many ways, from prevention of diseases through improved hygiene to financial stability at group and personal levels. [The] installation of sanitation infrastructures will help us maintain good hygiene and eradicate common diseases that have been an issue in our community for a while," shared 36-year-old Raphael Muthui.

Raphael.

The knowledge will be shared [with] other people in our area and emphasize so much on the importance of hygienic practices," he concluded.

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!

September, 2024: Katavui Community Sand Dam Underway!

The lack of adequate water in Katavui 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 Type

Sand dams are huge, impressive structures built into the riverbeds of seasonal rivers (rivers that disappear every year during dry seasons). Instead of holding back a reservoir of water like a traditional dam would, sand dams accumulate a reservoir of silt and sand. Once the rain comes, the sand will capture 1-3% of the river’s flow, allowing most of the water to pass over. Then, we construct shallow wells on the riverbank to provide water even when the river has dried up, thanks to new groundwater reserves. Learn more here!

Katavui Community A

Project Status

Community Profile

Community Profile

Report Submitted by
Alex Koech, Communications Officer