Ikuyuni Community 1A

Jennifer Gains Peace of Mind

May, 2026

Last year, your gift unlocked the potential for a brighter future for Jennifer. Since then, she and the Ikuyuni Community of 1,000 residents have had clean, reliable water. Your contribution has made a significant impact. Thank you for making a difference!

"I like that the water is clean, nearby, and safe to fetch," exclaimed Jennifer.

Before the Sand Dam Installation

Like many women in Southeastern Kenya, 34-year-old farmer Jennifer Lingwa is responsible for collecting water to meet her daily water needs. Before last year’s water intervention, this task stole her time and negatively affected her.

The previous water source.

Drinking the water from the previous water source caused 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 Jennifer, it lessened her opportunity to make progress on her farm.

"Before this project, water was a big challenge. We had to walk several kilometers on rocky, hilly paths to fetch small amounts of water. It was exhausting and dangerous—sometimes people slipped on the steep slopes, and donkeys would drop jerrycans due to exhaustion, causing them to break. The little water we got was not enough for hygiene, farming, or even cooking. Many of us, and our children, suffered from typhoid, amoeba, and stomach aches because the water was unsafe," recalled Jennifer.

"It was very tiring and discouraging. Fetching water consumed a lot of time and energy that could have been used to prepare [our] land or farm. We often had to decide between saving water for drinking or using it for other needs, like washing and irrigation. It felt like every day was a struggle just to get by," she continued.

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 Jennifer’s future. By supporting the water solution, you made clean water an everyday reality, fostering hope for a brighter future.

The completed sand dam full of water.

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!"

"I no longer risk walking on steep, rocky paths, and I don’t spend hours going up and down hills. The water source is reliable, and I can get enough for all my household needs and farming," Jennifer shared.

The Future is Looking Bright!

A year ago, you made a difference for Jennifer and 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 system hardware, monitor water availability, conduct sanitary inspections, and collect water-quality samples to identify risks. We work with our on-the-ground team to resolve them.

You gave Jennifer 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 Jennifer fulfill her dreams.

"Since the project was completed, my health and that of my family have improved a lot. We no longer suffer [from] frequent stomach aches or waterborne diseases like typhoid and amoeba. With clean water nearby, I can also bathe regularly, wash clothes, and keep my home clean. What I couldn’t do before—like planting onions and trees on my farm—I can now do with ease because there is enough water for both drinking and farming," Jennifer reported.

"The best thing is good health and peace of mind. My family no longer falls sick often from waterborne diseases, and I can keep my home clean and dignified. Clean water has also given us the chance to farm and feed ourselves better," she continued.

"My dream is to expand my farming, sell more produce, and ensure my family never lacks food or money. I also want to support my children’s education. With water now available nearby, I believe these dreams will be easier to achieve," Jennifer imagined.

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 Ikuyuni 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 Ikuyuni 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: 1,000 Served

Project Phase: In Service - Feb 2025

Functionality Status: Functional

Last Checkup: 03/10/2026

Project Features

Click icons to learn about each feature.

The 1000 people in the Ikuyuni Community struggle to access sufficient water because they have no reliable water source nearby. Their primary water source is scoop holes of water that collect in a river bed, but community members must walk several kilometers over rocky, hilly terrain to reach them. It is an exhausting chore that consumes their time and energy and, in the end, provides them with very little water.

The water they can collect is used to fulfill their top priorities of drinking and cooking, which means other important things like proper hygiene and sanitation and farming get delayed or neglected altogether.

Sadly, since the scoop holes are not protected, the water community members work so hard to collect is often contaminated. Community members report that consuming the water causes them to suffer from frequent stomach aches and water-related infections that are expensive to treat, especially with limited incomes.

"One of my children recently had a stomach ache, and I had to take her to the dispensary. The dispensary is mostly overcrowded because they are understaffed, and my daughter was diagnosed with amoeba. I went to the nearby drugstore and got the drugs on credit because I did not have money at that time. We seek treatment from the drug store because the government-sponsored dispensary usually does not have drugs. Getting money to purchase medicine is challenging because I mostly depend on farming, which is negatively affected by poor precipitation and long periods of drought. This often happens because we mostly rely on the water from the scoop hole, which is contaminated," said 34-year-old farmer Jennifer Lingwa, shown carrying water below.

"Water is really important to use because, without it, we have to walk several kilometers in search of water. It is also impossible to get water for irrigation during the several periods of poor precipitation, which means we can not plant crops and get income to pay bills like school fees and purchase household goods," Jennifer continued.

"I spend most of my time and energy drawing water from the scoop hole. Therefore, I am left with little time to study or do my homework. Fetching water is the main order of the day in our area. I feel so sad when I am sent to fetch water, especially after classes or during holidays, because the current water sources are far away, and I usually walk from school. I get so exhausted and unable to play soccer with my friends," said 15-year-old Solo, seen above collecting water.

"Solo really likes football and wants to be a football star in [the] future. It is a pity that he barely gets enough time to play with his friends. His parents are also adversely affected by drought and cannot raise fees for him to be in school because of the poor farm yields. I hope that the proposed project will avail enough water close to his home and improve their levels of income through farming," said our Field Officer Alex Cheruiyot.

We are grateful for Ikuyuni's community member's initiative. They approached one of our field officers while they were visiting another water project in the area, asking for help to bring clean water to their community, and after assessment, it was decided that their request should be granted.

"The community is seeking to ensure that the region has enough water because it will help them tackle water-related problems like poor farm yields, poor hygiene, and low incomes," shared Field Officer Alex Cheruiyot.

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 protected 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

February, 2025: Ikuyuni Community Sand Dam Complete!

Ikuyuni 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 will also build a new 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.

"I will now be focusing on farming and taking care of my cattle and goats, who will easily drink water here. I will be selling my produce, and my livestock will fetch a good price at the market," said 34-year-old farmer Jennifer Lingwa.

Jennifer Lingwa.

"My children will be fetching water easily from this point any time during the day within a few minutes, which will provide them with time to study or recall what was taught in school. Also, I will now have time and effort to focus on household chores and farming because this water point is very close to my home."

Sand Dam Construction

The members of the 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 33 meters long and 4 meters high and required 970 bags of cement.

When the rains come, sand and silt will be carried down the dry riverbed and build 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!

Community Education

Our trainer worked with the field staff and community members to determine which topics the community could improve upon.

As we've worked with this Self-Help Group in the past, we asked them about the subjects they needed refresher training on.

"The new members, together with the old members, will benefit in many ways, like water treatment and implementation of sanitation infrastructures, and through this, a lot of diseases will be reduced. We have also reminded ourselves on soap and latrine disinfectant making. This will help us generate more income at [a] personal and group level," shared Maithya Lingwa, the Chairperson of the Water User Committee.

We trained the group on various skills, including bookkeeping, financial management, project management, group dynamics, and governance. We conducted hygiene and sanitation training to teach skills like soap and detergent-making and improve habits such as handwashing.

We covered health problems in the community, good and bad hygiene habits, and the prevention of disease. Finally, we covered natural resource management as well as the operation and maintenance of the sand dam.

Thank you for making all of this possible!

December, 2024: Exciting Progress in Ikuyuni Community!

We’re thrilled to share that, thanks to your generous support, significant change is coming for Jennifer and the entire Ikuyuni Community. Construction has begun on the sand dam project, bringing them one step closer to having clean, reliable water.

But that's not all—during construction, we’re also providing vital health training. These sessions equip the community with essential hygiene practices, ensuring that the benefits of clean water extend to lasting health improvements.

We’re so grateful for your role in making this possible. Stay tuned for more updates—soon, we’ll be celebrating the arrival of safe water in the Ikuyuni Community!