Project Status



Project Type:  Protected Spring

Regional Program: Western Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 350 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Nov 2018

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 01/10/2024

Project Features


Click icons to learn about each feature.



"It has been our desire as a community to have our spring protected so that we can have access to clean and safe drinking water," Mr. Kevin Temba said to us.

He contacted us about protecting Udi Spring after seeing our protection of nearby Indiatsi Spring. He visited a friend who lives by the spring and was impressed with the work.

People gather water from this source through a plastic pipe which they improvised. It was made to relieve the problems with scooping water from the source. But it did not alleviate the problem entirely because it is still open to contamination by nearby farms and animals.

They store water at home in 100-liter plastic containers and or leave it in the jerrycans they use to fetch water from the spring. The community members use the water for domestic chores such as; cleaning, drinking, cooking, irrigating their farms during dry seasons, water for their animals and for brick-making.

Community members using water from this unprotected source are vulnerable to waterborne diseases. This is attributed to the fact that, the spring is located to proximate farming, where most people go to wash and also take their animals to drink water.

We met Mr. Udi, who the spring is named after. He complained of his family repeatedly suffering from typhoid.

"I spent a lot of money on medication on my son who suffered from typhoid for a very long period of time - money which I could otherwise have invested in my brick making business," he said.

His case is just an example of the many challenges faced by this community created by the lack of access to safe water.

Sanitation facilities such as pit latrines, dish rack, and clotheslines are rare in the community. The latrines that exist are generally in poor condition. This, therefore, means that the people relieve themselves in the bushes, thus endangering their own lives because the sanitation state in the area is poor.

Most adults spend their day farming maize, vegetables, banana, beans, and sugarcane. Some parent can afford to make bricks that are then sold in nearby Kakamega Town where construction is constant and there is a need for bricks.

Here’s what we plan to do about it:

Training

Community members will attend hygiene and sanitation training to give them a chance to learn 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. And since open defecation was encountered here, this is at the top of our list of things to address. Waste always needs to be disposed of properly, or else it will be spread by flies or rainwater.

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.

Training will inform the committee and the rest of the community about 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. All community members must work together to make sure that accommodations and food are always provided for the work teams.

Sanitation Platforms

On the final day of training, participants will select five families that should benefit from new latrine floors. The five families must prepare by sinking a pit for the sanitation platforms to be placed over.

Spring Protection

Our artisans will protect the spring and 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 female community members 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 Udi 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.

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 Indete, 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.

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.




September, 2019: Giving Update: Indete Community, Udi Spring

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

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




November, 2018: Indete Community Project Complete

Indete Community is celebrating their new protected spring, so celebrate with them! Udi 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

We called our community contact who was already managing the collection of local sand and stones for the spring protection project. We informed him of the need for hygiene and sanitation training. He was very happy about the training and let us know that when he informed the other community members, they were eager to attend. The women came in great numbers, since they are traditionally seen as most responsible for water and hygiene-related chores in the household.

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 containers.

We visited a few days later to see that most of the participants had already constructed these handwashing stations and placed them outside their latrines.

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 Udi Spring was successful and water is now flowing from the discharge pipe.

"No more waterborne diseases. Our spring is protected and now we are safe!" exclaimed Mrs. Pamela Muyonga.

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.




October, 2018: Indete Community Project Underway

Dirty water from Udi Spring is making people in Indete 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: Indete Community, Udi Spring

September, 2019

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

Keeping The Water Promise

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

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Indete Community 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!

Since the protection of Udi Spring in Indete last year, the lives of community members here have improved tremendously.

As you approach the community, you are welcomed by a clean environment with no refuse seen around the compound. This indicates that the community members have embraced hygiene and sanitation as was urged during the training. Besides that, the waterborne diseases reported earlier in the community have drastically reduced as a result of protecting Udi Spring. Also, drawing water for these community members is now so easy as one can draw water at any time, unlike before where one could draw water for drinking only in the morning.

"A lot of changes have been happening since the project was implemented," said Pamela Muyonga, who serves as Chair of the water committee in Indete.

"First, long queues witnessed earlier have reduced because for one to draw water from the spring she/he need [only] to place the container under the discharging pipe and within no time the container is full. [This is] unlike before where one used to scoop water using smaller containers which used to be time-consuming."

"Another thing is that initially the water [was contaminated with] fluke worm, but since [the] protection of the spring fluke worms have disappeared. Also, waterborne diseases that were rampant in the community initially have reduced because water is no longer exposed to agents of contamination."

Gloria Liboshe with Field Officer Jonathan

7-year-old Gloria Liboshe also talked to us while we were at the spring, and shared her perspective on what the spring protection has meant to her and her community over the last year.

"Since the project was completed, we are drawing safe, clean water from the spring in an easy way. [I] am so happy, particularly [about how] no one can quarrel [with] me anymore for contaminating [the] water. Initially, you [had to be] so careful when scooping water from the spring to avoid making it dirty."


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 Indete Community 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 Indete Community – 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

In Memory of Giovanna Stark