Project Status



Project Type:  Protected Spring

Regional Program: Western Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 150 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Aug 2018

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 02/07/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

Musango Community is a humble place where most of its dwellers rely on farming maize, beans, and groundnuts. Some also rely on rearing cattle for milk production. The little ones play at home while the parents work on their farms. Small market stalls are set up during evening hours to sell produce, milk, and other wares.

Water

The people living in this area rely on Jared Lukoko Spring, which is located on the edge of Mr. Lukoko's property. The spring's water pools to the surface, so a jerrycan is dunked under that surface until it is full.

The water from this spring is open to contamination from animals, human activity, erosion, and other things that are washed in during the rain.

The community uses the water to meet all of its needs, including drinking. Consuming the dirty water causes people to suffer from diarrhea, headaches, and stomachaches. Young children are more likely to suffer from waterborne diseases.

"This will be of great importance to my community. We have consumed dirty water for a long period of time. We can't wait to have it completed!" Mr. Lukako said.

Sanitation

More than half of the households have a traditional pit latrine. They're often made of banana fiber, mud, grass, and iron sheets. Those who don't have a pit latrine share with their neighbor or seek a private place outside.

There are no handwashing stations, but quite a few families have set up clotheslines and dish racks to safely dry their belongings off the ground.

Here's what we're going to do about it:

Training

Community members will attend hygiene and sanitation training for at least two 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. One of the most important topics we plan to cover is open defecation and its dangers, as well as having and using a pit latrine.

Training will also result in the formation of a committee that will oversee operations and maintenance at the spring. They will enforce proper behavior around the spring and delegate tasks that will help preserve the site, such as building a fence and digging proper drainage. The fence will keep out destructive animals, and the drainage will keep the area’s mosquito population at a minimum.

Sanitation Platforms

On the final day of training, participants will select five families that should benefit from new latrine floors.

Training will also inform the community and selected families on what they need to contribute to make this project a success. They must mobilize locally available materials, such as bricks, clean sand, hardcore, and ballast. The five families chosen for sanitation platforms must prepare by sinking a pit for the sanitation platforms to be placed over. All community members must work together to make sure that accommodations and food are always provided for the work teams.

Spring Protection

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.

Fetching water is predominantly a female role, done by both women and young girls. Protecting the spring and offering training and support will, therefore, help empower the female members of the community by giving them more time and efforts to engage and invest in income-generating activities.

Project Updates


June, 2020: COVID-19 Prevention Training Update at Musango Community, Jared Lukoko Spring

Our teams are working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Join us in our fight against the virus while maintaining access to clean, reliable water.

Issuing informational pamphlets on COVID-19

We are carrying out awareness and prevention trainings on the virus in every community we serve. Very often, our teams are the first (and only) to bring news and information of the virus to rural communities like Musango, Kenya.

We trained more than 11 people on the symptoms, transmission routes, and prevention of COVID-19. Due to public gathering concerns, we worked with trusted community leaders to gather a select group of community members who would then relay the information learned to the rest of their family and friends.

Homemade mask tutorial

We covered essential hygiene lessons:

- Demonstrations on how to build a simple handwashing station

- Proper handwashing technique

- The importance of using soap and clean water for handwashing

- Cleaning and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces including at the water point.

Following the mask tutorial

We covered COVID-19-specific guidance in line with national and international standards:

- Information on the symptoms and transmission routes of COVID-19

- What social distancing is and how to practice it

- How to cough into an elbow

- Alternative ways to greet people without handshakes, fist bumps, etc.

- How to make and properly wear a facemask.

Handwashing demonstration

During training, we installed a new handwashing station with soap near the community’s water point, along with a sign with reminders of what we covered.

Due to the rampant spread of misinformation about COVID-19, we also dedicated time to a question and answer session to help debunk rumors about the disease and provide extra information where needed.

Everyone practicing the 10 steps of handwashing

We continue to stay in touch with this community as the pandemic progresses. We want to ensure their water point remains functional and their community stays informed about the virus.

Water access, sanitation, and hygiene are at the crux of disease prevention. You can directly support our work on the frontlines of COVID-19 prevention in all of the communities we serve while maintaining their access to safe, clean, and reliable water.




October, 2019: Giving Update: Musango Community, Jared Lukoko Spring

A year ago, your generous donation helped Musango Community in Kenya access clean water.

There’s an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water at Jared Lukoko Spring in Musango. Month after month, their giving supports ongoing sustainability programs that help this community maintain access to safe, reliable water. Read more…




August, 2018: Musango Community Project Complete

Musango Community now has clean water! Jared Lukoko Spring has been transformed into a flowing source of clean water thanks to your donation. The spring is protected from contamination, five sanitation platforms have been provided for the community, and training has been done on sanitation and hygiene.

New Knowledge

Our field officer, Lillian Achieng', communicated closely with Mr. Jared Lukoko to plan for hygiene and sanitation training. Mr. Lukoko went around his community informing every family of the training schedule and the importance of what we'd teach there. Some 22 of us met together outside Mr. Luoko's home on a sunny morning.

Everything went so well; our trainers are used to finding participants who can't understand Swahili or English and need a translator. This time, there were no language barriers at all! Everyone could read and write, too.

We covered several topics including leadership and governance; operation and maintenance of the spring; healthcare; family planning; immunizations; the spread of disease and prevention. We also covered water treatment methods, personal care like handwashing, environmental hygiene, hygiene promotion, and many other things.

Demonstrating each step of handwashing for the group.

Since Mr. Lukoko lives so close to the spring, we could take the entire group over to learn about water source management and maintenance. Indigenous trees need to be planted around the source, avoiding eucalyptus at all costs. Eucalyptus will drain the spring in a surprisingly short time. There shouldn't be any farming or bathing by the spring, among many other rules to ensure the quality and quantity of water. With proper care, this spring protection will serve generations to come.

Training participants were happy to have so much information they could act on!

"From what I have learned today, teething in my children will never be an issue again. I have learned that teething does not cause diarrhea in babies - rather it is a lack of hygiene," Mrs. Priscah Nyarotso shared.

Mrs. Nyarotso

Sanitation Platforms

All five sanitation platforms have been installed and make wonderful, easy to clean latrine floors. These five families are happy about this milestone of having a private latrine of their own and are optimistic that people will no longer leave waste outdoors. We are continuing to encourage families to finish building walls and roofs over their new latrine floors.

Spring Protection

Community members provided all locally available construction materials, e.g bricks, wheelbarrows of clean sand, wheelbarrows of ballast, fencing poles and gravel.

With heavy downpours, the village roads were cold and muddy, making it extra hard to carry stones down to the construction site. We had to remove our shoes to avoid slipping and falling. With a lot of determination, the adults with the help of the little ones were able to support our artisan. Accommodations and meals were provided for the artisan, too.

The spring area was excavated to create space for setting the foundation of polyethylene, wire mesh and concrete. After the base had been set, both wing walls and the headwall were set in place using brickwork. The discharge pipe was fixed low in place through the headwall to direct the water from the reservoir to the drawing area.

Diverting the water to allow for the impending construction work.

As the wing walls and headwall cured, the stairs were set and ceramic tiles were fixed directly below the discharge pipe. This protects the concrete from the erosive force of the falling water and beautifies the spring. The process of plastering the headwall and wing walls on both sides reinforces the brickwork and prevents water from the reservoir from seeping through the walls and allows pressure to build in the collection box to push water up through the discharge pipe.

The source area was filled up with clean stones and sand and covered with a polyethylene membrane to eliminate any potential sources of contamination. The artisan had given the spring one last coat of plaster, but heavy rains washed it away overnight. He had to come back again the next day to fix it. But after that, the weather was conducive and the concrete dried over the course of two weeks.

Construction still isn't complete in this picture, but we found it near impossible to keep the curious children away.

As soon as the spring protection was ready for use, the field officer made a visit to officially hand it over to the community. The day was very bright and filled with gratefulness as people witnessed clean water coming from the pipe.

"Our God answers prayers. It never occurred to us that one day we could have clean water running from a pipe for our daily chores and for drinking," Mr. Lukoko said.

"It is a common thing here to draw water from an unprotected spring. We believe that our lives will change with the new water!"




May, 2018: Musango Community Project Underway

Dirty water from Jared Lukoko Spring is making people in Musango Community sick. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install a clean water point and much more.

Get to know your community through the narrative and pictures we’ve posted, and read about this water, sanitation and hygiene project. We look forward to reaching out with more good news!




Project Photos


Project Type

Springs are water sources that come from deep underground, where the water is filtered through natural layers until it is clean enough to drink. Once the water pushes through the surface of the Earth, however, outside elements like waste and runoff can contaminate the water quickly. We protect spring sources from contamination with a simple waterproof cement structure surrounding layers of clay, stone, and soil. This construction channels the spring’s water through a discharge pipe, making water collection easier, faster, and cleaner. Each spring protection also includes a chlorine dispenser at the waterpoint so community members can be assured that the water they are drinking is entirely safe. Learn more here!


Giving Update: Musango Community, Jared Lukoko Spring

October, 2019

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

Keeping The Water Promise

There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Musango Community 5.

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Musango Community 5 maintain access to safe, reliable water. Together, they keep The Water Promise.

We’re confident you'll love joining this world-changing group committed to sustainability!

The community members using Jared Lukoko Spring look happy, reported our field staff after a recent visit to Musango. Initially, people here were affected by the dirty water from the unprotected spring, but with the protection of the spring and formation of the self-help group, the community members now work together and look happier due to the positive changes Jared Lukoko Spring has brought to their lives.

This included increased access to clean and safe water for drinking, cooking, cleaning, and many other uses. The spring area is clean and well-maintained, a sign that the community members really appreciate their spring and are determined to see it lasting long into the future.

Spring landowner Mr. Jared Lukoko reflected on the changes the spring protection brought to his community since its completion last year.

"We are at peace. Nowadays we do not worry about other people contaminating the water or animals drinking from the spring. It is a better experience than it was a year ago. The spring protection has united this community and brought a lot of positive changes."

Sheila Awinja gives a thumbs up for clean water from the spring

13-year-old Sheila Awinja also shared her thoughts on the protected spring.

"The spring is beautiful, I'm proud of my community for embracing this project. I drink the water directly from the source without worrying about any waterborne diseases," she said.


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 Musango Community 5 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 Musango Community 5 – 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.


Contributors

McGraw Hill Matching GIft
2 individual donor(s)