Rehabilitation Project
This project is a part of our shared program with Western Water and Sanitation Forum (WEWASAFO). Our team is pleased to directly share the below report (edited for clarity, as needed).
Welcome to the Community
Omulakha Spring is an unprotected spring located in Emukaba Village, Indangalasia sub-location, Butsotso East location, East Butsotso Ward, Lurambi sub-county of Kakamega County. The spring serves 31 households of approximately seven family members each, totaling 217 beneficiaries.
A normal day in Emukaba Village involves women waking up early to go fetch water from their nearby unprotected spring. This they use at home to prepare meals for the family who need to leave for school or to work on their farms. The evenings are spent with men either resting at home or attending meetings, while the women sell local farm produce in the nearby village markets, where they also buy food for their family's evening meal. Sugarcane farming is paramount in Emukaba Village, which covers a majority of the farmland.
Water Situation
An unprotected spring is open to contamination of every sort. Since this area is covered in farms, fertilizers and pesticides are some of the more dominant contaminants. Not only are there chemicals on these farms, but the privacy of sugarcane crop also draws both human and animal to use it as a bathroom. Chemicals are washed into the spring when it rains, but also bathroom waste.
Right upon arriving at the spring, we recognized the contamination. Before the spring's water is disturbed, green algae floats on top. The spring's water is used for drinking, cooking watering animals, and other domestic chores.
Plastic jerrycans are the primary water container used to transport water from the spring. A smaller container is brought to pour water from the spring into the jerrycan, most of which do not have covers to protect water on the way home. Once home, the water is separated into other containers by use. Earthen pots are used for drinking water, since they have covers and keep the water cool. The rest of the water for domestic use is poured into a large plastic bucket.
Community members do not know how important it is to treat or boil water before drinking. When people drink the spring's water without taking these steps, cases of diarrhea are reported, especially among the small children. Incidences of typhoid and other water-related diseases have also been reported.
Sanitation Situation
Under 25% of households have a pit latrine. Any pit latrines we observed were in poor condition, made of mud that is falling apart. Many children and elderly people fear using these latrines because they are unstable; users risk falling through the floor into the pit. Since so few families have a pit latrine of their own, open defecation is a huge issue here.
The same, small number of households have bathing rooms available for personal hygiene. Less than a quarter have helpful tools like dish racks and clotheslines to dry belongings up off the ground. We found no hand-washing stations.
The community will be trained on the importance of having and using the above facilities. They look forward to this learning opportunity.
Plans: Hygiene and Sanitation Training and Sanitation Platforms
Community members will attend hygiene and sanitation training for at least three days. This training will ensure participants are no longer ignorant about healthy practices and their importance. The facilitator plans to use PHAST (Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation), CLTS (Community-Led Total Sanitation), ABCD (Asset-Based Community Development), group discussions, handouts, and demonstrations at the spring. On the final day of training, participants will select five families that should benefit from new latrines that have sanitation platforms (concrete pit latrine floors).
Based on the initial visit, the facilitator decided to focus on the following training topics:
Proper handling and treatment of water and food
Dangers of open defecation
Protecting, preserving, and managing community water sources
Practicing personal and environmental hygiene
Training will also inform the community and selected families on what they can do to help make this project a success. They will mobilize local materials such as bricks, clean sand, hardcore, and ballast. The five selected families will also prepare by sinking a pit for sanitation platforms to be placed over. All community members will work together to make sure that accommodations and food are always provided for the work teams.
We met Mr. Josiah Abwalaba, one of the community's many sugarcane farmers. He too has noticed the problem of open defecation and how it occurs on his own farm. He said, "Many of our people lack proper latrines and the slabs (sanitation platforms) you bring will ease the problem of open defecation in the community, and constructing a superstructure isn't difficult. The slab is the most important, and we will be very grateful if approved for the project!"
Plans: Spring Protection
Community members have already been collecting the local materials that will be used for spring protection construction, such as rocks and sand. Some of the families who want sanitation platforms have already sunk their pits in preparation! This is evidence that the entire community is ready and willing to unite for positive change.
Protecting the spring will ensure that the water is safe, adequate and secure. Construction will keep surface runoff and other contaminants out of the water. The sanitation facilities and trainings will also enable, enlighten and build the capacity of the community so that they can take matters into their own hands.
