The Water Project’s WaSH program in Western Kenya aims to access, protect, filter, and purify the abundant waters that are available through two seasonal rains, prevalent springs, high water tables, and deep aquifers in the region. Explore water projects in communities, schools, and churches in Western Kenya such as protected springs, rainwater catchment systems, and water wells. This program emphasizes the power of strategic geographical saturation of projects, effective hygiene and sanitation training, and relational networking between NGOs, health workers, local politicians, and educators.
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!
Rehabilitation Project
Rehabilitation is not just fixing a pump - it’s total community re-engagement.
There’s only one thing we can think of that might be worse than not having safe water: having safe water, and then losing it because a project fell into disrepair.
Rehabilitation often proves to be a big challenge, as many wells have sit idle for years and there is typically little information about the specifics of the well. A borehole and dug well rehabilitation involves quite a bit of discovery. First, our teams work to discover as much as they can about the initial project. What materials were used? Was the borehole/hand-dug well properly constructed? Many of these questions can only be answered by diving in, and doing “the work” which makes up a rehabilitation.
Once our teams have found the problem, they find the solution. Then, they reconstruct the well and install a hand pump.
Engagement and training with communities takes into account rehabilitation was needed and alters the program to suit the needs of the community. After all - engaging with this community in the same way which led to the initial, failed project will not bring new results. Our teams work to understand the social and support reasons leading to initial failure, and make those areas a focus of our ongoing engagement with communities.
Local Leadership
Water projects don’t last long without the help of local leaders. They’re the ones who explain the situation on the ground to us (and our donors!) while also outlining our goals and intentions for the community members.
The Water Project identifies, supports, and partners with local organizations that share our vision of reliable, verifiable, and clean water. Together, we build lasting local solutions and undertake ongoing monitoring and resolution to ensure our solutions are still working years into the future.
Community Engagement
We engage the communities we work with at every step of a water project.
These interactions are rooted in relationship-building. We involve the community in implementation, set expectations for water point management, prepare community members for ongoing costs, and more. All of this happens before a water project is installed.
The people receiving a water project get a leading seat at the table. Every water project we implement requires negotiations with several interested parties. During this step and every other, we continuously try to embody our favorite ideals: reliability, relationship, and trust.
Sanitation Platform (SanPlat)
Easily made latrine slabs encourage household bathroom construction.
Proper hygiene and sanitation facilities go hand-in-hand with access to clean, reliable water.
A SanPlat is most literally the slab one would squat over when utilizing the bathroom.
The community chooses 5 households to receive SanPlats made on site under our training and guidance. The goal: seeing the need for safe latrines throughout their community, each household will be inspired to build their own.
Hygiene and Sanitation Training
For many communities, water is just the beginning. Living without water deprioritizes things that deplete water rations, like bathing, cleaning, and even handwashing. Also, in some cases, community members who couldn’t afford to go to school never learned topics usually covered in health classes. A steady water supply on its own won’t solve these issues, which is why we train the people in every community, school, and health center we provide with a water project.
Although we tailor the subjects we cover in each training to each region and community, there are some staples we always touch on: water handling and storage; personal and environmental hygiene; disease transmission; how to form and maintain a water user committee; and the operation/maintenance of the community’s new water project.
With each training, our goal is to empower communities to take back their personal health so growth and development can begin.
Monitoring and Resolution
Sub-Saharan Africa is littered with broken and abandoned wells installed by well-meaning people.
We love celebrating when a project is complete and a community has access to clean, safe water. However, reliability is the true measure of our impact.
Water can only transform lives if it’s always there. Water-fetchers need to know that when they visit one of our water points, there will always be water. Sometimes, it only takes one sip of dirty water to make someone sick, even if they’d been drinking clean water for months beforehand.
This is why we measure our water projects’ downtime in hours, not days or weeks. Each hour is critical to someone’s life, and each hour someone has to wait for clean water is another opportunity to go back to the rivers, swamps, and scoop holes they resorted to before our water project was installed. Our past water projects are just as important as what we tackle in the future.
The Water Project monitors all of our water projects to make sure water service continues. To learn more about how you can help with ongoing monitoring, evaluation, and resolution, read about The Water Promise: a group of amazing, world-changing monthly donors who understand the power of keeping water flowing long after the installation is done.
Project Timeline FAQ
Project Status
We’re working hard to make sure your gifts result in a lasting water project for the community it serves. Our engagement with a community begins many months before construction and lasts years after construction. The timeline here is focused on the physical construction of the water project. There is also training and engagement work that has already started.
Water project construction in the developing world is hard work. A lot of things can and do cause delays - which are normal. We attempt to make our best judgment of when construction will be complete, but the circumstances surrounding actual "in the field" conditions are far from our control.
Weather, supply availability, government paperwork, and progress of community involvement are just a few of the variables that can delay (and sometimes speed up) a project's completion.
We will always tell you if anything changes. And, if you get a notice like this – it’s actually further proof your gifts are being carefully used towards a water project that lasts.
Click icons to learn about each feature.
Report Submitted by Rose Serete, Field Officer
Rose is passionate about reaching vulnerable communities and schools with water, sanitation, and hygiene projects. She gets her strength from the visible joy she witnesses in communities and schools as they receive safe water. Rose’s desire is to reach more people across the country.
Rose has been a Field Officer since 2016, with WeWaSaFo, The Water Project's trusted partner in our Western Kenya WaSH Program.
Chibusia Spring is a permanent unprotected spring located in Kakamega County.
The community members of Ematetie Village wake up very early in the morning to prepare their children to go to school. Thereafter, the women clean the compound before joining their husbands to work on their farms. At around 3pm the women take the vegetables to sell at the main market in town.
Most community members keep dairy cattle and grow maize, groundnuts, bananas, and vegetables. In addition to farming, the men normally undertake sand harvesting and excavation of stones to earn their living.
Water
This spring serves more than 20 households who use the water for drinking, crop irrigation, and for other household chores.
The people draw water using small jugs and pour it into larger 10- or 20-liter jerrycans, then take it home.
The water source is open and the rate of contamination is high. For example, during rainfall, the overflow of water covers the spring and consequently makes the water dirty. It predisposes its users to waterborne diseases, such as typhoid, diarrhea, amoeba, and malaria.
"The situation in this community is very bad," Mr. Benson Omwoma explained.
"Getting clean water for the community has been difficult. We are drinking the dirty water. As a result, we suffer from rampant cases of diarrhea and typhoid. "
The community reached out for support following a baseline survey at a neighboring school and having heard about the good work we are doing among marginalized communities. A visit to the spring showed that it was in need of protection.
Protecting the spring will help empower the female members of the community by creating more time for them to engage and invest in income-generating activities. In addition, protecting the spring will ensure that the water is safe, adequate and secure.
"This is a God-given opportunity and the idea of protecting the Chibusia Spring will solve our water problems," one of the residents confided to the field officers.
Sanitation
Fewer than half of all households have latrines. Most of the latrines that do exist are covered by banana leaves and old iron sheets.
A good sign is the fact that most of the people throw their garbage in the farms so that they can use as manure. The sanitation facilities and health promotion campaign, through training, will enable, enlighten and build the capacity of the community to take matters related to community health as a priority.
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 have the knowledge they need 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 the handling, storage, and treatment of water. Having a clean water source will be extremely helpful, but it is useless if water gets contaminated by the time it’s consumed. Handwashing will also be a big topic.
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. With the community’s high involvement in the process, there should be a good sense of responsibility and ownership for the new clean water source.
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
October, 2020: Through Their Eyes: COVID-19 Chronicles with Benson Omwoma Weku
This post is part of a new series by The Water Project meant to highlight the perspectives and experiences of the people we serve and how the COVID-19 pandemic is impacting them. We invite you to read more of their stories here.
Our team recently visited Ematetie to conduct a COVID-19 prevention training (read more about it below!) and monitor their water point, Chibusia Spring. Shortly after, we returned to check in on the community, offer a COVID-19 refresher training, and ask how the pandemic is affecting their lives.
It was during this most recent visit that Benson Omwoma Weku shared his story of how the coronavirus is impacting his life and his community. Benson is a 48-year-old father, businessperson, and Chair of the spring's water user committee.
Mr. Benson Omwoma Weku
Field Officer Rose Serete met Benson outside his home to conduct the interview. Both Rose and Benson observed physical distancing and other precautions throughout the visit to ensure their health and safety. The following is Benson's story, in his own words.
Benson outside his home
What is one thing that has changed in your community since the completion of the water project?
"Our community looks neat because we have enough water for practicing hygiene and sanitation. We have also improved our living standards because the money we used to spend on water is now diverted to other activities."
How has having a clean water point helped you through the pandemic so far?
"Having this water point has really helped us fight the coronavirus. We are able to wash our hands frequently without the fear of where to get clean water. We also have enough water to practice hygiene and sanitation at home."
Since the outbreak of COVID-19 in Kenya, has fetching water changed for you because of restrictions, new rules, or your concerns about the virus?
"Yes. Initially, people could just fetch water without washing hands, but nowadays it's a must and no one is allowed to touch the discharge pipe, even after washing hands."
Benson washing his hands at home with soap and clean water from the spring using a leaky tin he made
How has COVID-19 impacted your family?
"Personally, I have been affected by COVID-19 because I used to work in a hotel and our employer had to let go of some people, and I was one of the people asked to step down. Providing for my family has been not easy. My children too are affected because the government started some learning programs online and on television, but where we live, there is no electricity. Therefore my children have not benefited from that program."
Benson's son Joshua refills the handwashing station with clean water
What other challenges are you experiencing due to the COVID-19 pandemic?
"Parenting has been a major challenge, especially those of us with teenagers. You need to be there with them and make sure they are busy doing something; a lot of indiscipline cases been reported in my community."
Benson looking after his cow while it eats
What hygiene and sanitation steps have you and your community taken to stop the spread of the virus?
"My community members have made efforts that every home has a handwashing station. The station is put at the gate so that anyone visiting them has to wash hands before entering the compound. They are also practicing social distancing everywhere they go. Finally, they have to put on masks whenever they go out."
Benson at the spring fetching water for his cow
Like most governments around the world, the Kenyan government continues to set and adjust restrictions both nationally and regionally to help control the spread of the virus.
What restriction were you most excited to see lifted already?
"The restriction that I was most excited about was the ability to hold social events like weddings, funerals, and going to church [with limited numbers]".
What restriction are you still looking forward to being lifted?
"I am looking forward to seeing the government allowing full social events' attendance. The attendance of people at events has been limited to 200 people."
Picking some kale from his farm
When asked where he receives information about COVID-19, Benson listed the radio and our team's sensitization training.
What has been the most valuable part of the COVID-19 sensitization training you received from our team?
"The most helpful part was how to make a mask and a handwashing station within our homes. With this we are safe and ready to fight COVID-19."
June, 2020: COVID-19 Prevention Training Update at Chebusia Spring
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 Ematetie, Kenya.
We trained community members 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.
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.
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.
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.
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.
October, 2019: Giving Update: Ematetie Community, Chibusia Spring
A year ago, your generous donation helped Ematetie Community in Kenya access clean water.
There’s an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water at Chibusia Spring in Ematetie Community. Month after month, their giving supports ongoing sustainability programs that help this community maintain access to safe, reliable water. Read more…
November, 2018: Ematetie Community Project Complete
Ematetie Community is celebrating their new protected spring, so celebrate with them! Chibusia Spring has been transformed into a flowing source of 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
Mr. Benson Omwoma was our main contact who helped us plan work in Ematetie. He coordinated volunteers to transport local sand and stones to the construction site. He also helped us recruit participants for our hygiene and sanitation training. He told us that it was tough recruiting enough of his neighbors, because most of them responded about how busy they are on their farms. Thankfully, Mr. Omwoma convinced nine of his neighbors to come and represent their own households. These 10 participants have promised to share everything they have learned with their families and the others who were not able to attend.
Group picture with all of the participants
Several topics were covered during the training, such as personal and environmental hygiene, common local diseases and their prevention, and care of the water point. The ten steps of handwashing were demonstrated, and participants were shown how to make their own handwashing stations using five-liter plastic containers.
Participants were surprised to learn that there are ways they need to care for their new spring protection. If they enforce special rules for its use and carry out some weekly chores, the spring protection will serve generations to come. They formed a water committee that will manage and maintain the water point. Learning about ways to care for the protected spring actually made the community more excited about having one nearby in Ematetie.
People were also surprised to learn about how important it is to treat drinking water. They admitted that they never boiled the water from Chibusia Spring because firewood is expensive and the entire process took too much energy. They loved learning about how solar energy can kill germs instead; all they would need is a clear container, time, and sunlight.
"The training will change our lives because we will form a group that will be registered under the name of 'Chibisia Spring,' and this group will help us do many activities which will earn income," said Mrs. Nancy Vugudza.
"We will put in practice what we have learned today. Thank you so much for giving us hope again of accessing clean and safe water."
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 latrine of their own. We are continuing to encourage families to finish building walls and roofs over their new latrine floors.
Spring Protection
Construction at Chibusia Spring was successful and water is now flowing from the discharge pipe.
"I am personally so happy because we have clean and sufficient water," said Mr. Mohammed Kweyu. "This community has gotten something precious which they have desired to have for years."
The only challenge during the process was the location of the spring. It's at the bottom of a steep hill, so it was difficult to safely shuttle stones and sand down to the construction site. That being the case, the community greatly appreciates the cement stairs that now lead down to the discharge pipe.
The Process:
Community members provided all locally available construction materials, e.g bricks, wheelbarrows of clean sand, wheelbarrows of ballast, and gravel. Community members also hosted our artisans for the duration of construction.
The spring area was excavated with jembes, hoes, and spades 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.
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 concrete dried over the course of five days. With this spring now handed over to the community, we will continue to follow up with the water user committee to make sure everything runs smoothly. They have already fenced in the spring area and plan to plant grass to prevent erosion.
The community held a meeting to mark the completion and commissioning of the protected spring. The event was full of prayer and thanksgiving. The community leaders thanked God and were categorical that the protected spring will greatly improve the quality of life here.
November, 2018: Ematetie Community Project Underway
Dirty water from Chibusia Spring is making people in Ematetie Community sick. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install a clean water point and much more.
Get to know this 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 Videos
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: Ematetie Community, Chibusia Spring
October, 2019
A year ago, your generous donation helped Ematetie Community in Kenya access clean water – creating a life-changing moment for John Weku. Thank you!
Keeping The Water Promise
There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Ematetie Community 2.
This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Ematetie Community 2 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!
Field Officer Rose Serete recently visited Chibusia Spring in Ematetie to check up on the spring and interview community members about the project's impact in its first year since construction. Rose shared the following reflection on her visit:
"The life of these beneficiaries has improved greatly. They can easily access water in the spring because the staircases were added during construction, compared to the past year when they could slide while going to fetch water. These community members are enjoying clean and safe water for drinking, [rather] than the past year when the spring was open and water could easily get contaminated. Initially, they use to spend a lot of money on medication [to treat waterborne diseases] which could have been used [for] constructive activities.
These community members are happy with the clean water and they continue to pass their gratitude to the donors for the project. The latrines are kept clean since sanitation platforms have made cleaning and maintenance a lot easier. They are doing well on income-generating activities which have transformed their lives greatly."
Mr. Weku with Field Officer Rose Serete in front of Chibusia Spring
John Weku is a respected elder in Ematetie, and shared his thoughts with Rose on the WaSH projects and training conducted last year.
"Our compounds are kept clean because we have enough water for cleaning activities. Every home has a dishrack and handwashing facility; these are the results of your training and we are so glad. We are free from waterborne diseases [and this] has reduced our expenditure on medication. We have started income-generating activities like farming and small scale businesses."
Goddard Juma Weku fetches water at the spring
11-year-old Goddard Juma Weku met John and Rose at the spring and reflected on how as a boy, the spring protection has changed how he is able to access clean water.
"I now take a shorter time when collecting water from the spring unlike before when we used to scoop water into the jerrycan which was time-consuming. I can go to the spring alone [rather] than other years when I used to accompany my mum to the spring. This was because the surrounding [area] of the spring was so bushy and [I] feared...bad animals around the spring."
With confidence in his safety and ability to fetch water on his own, Goddard's mother gets more time for other activities instead of having to accompany him at the spring and Goddard can fetch water without restriction while also having more time to play with friends and do his schoolwork.
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 Ematetie Community 2 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 Ematetie Community 2 – 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.