Project Status



Project Type:  Protected Spring

Regional Program: Western Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 120 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Apr 2019

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 02/07/2024

Project Features


Click icons to learn about each feature.



Ndalusia Spring is located in Musango Village of Kakamega County.

With this being a rural community, its 120 people wake early in the morning with the aim of tackling farm work. The women prepare children for school and get breakfast ready for the family. During this time, the men milk the cows and prepare grass for them to feed.

The children then leave for school while the parents remain to finalize home chores before heading to the farm.

One of the chores that women do in the morning before going to the farm is fetching water. Young men and children also help the elderly fetch water.

Ndalusia Spring is found at the farm of Mama Eldah Chiteli, just a short distance from the town center. One can access Musango Village by both car and motorbike. The road Kakamega to Makunga is paved to Makunga shopping center. At this center, one takes to the murram road that leads to Musango Village. A small path leads downstream from Chiteli's compound to the spring.

The unprotected spring serves many people who walk a short time before getting to the unprotected spring. The paths that the people take to the spring are overgrown and have potholes, making the journey difficult for the elderly to fetch water.

One goes to the spring with either a jug, a bowl or any small container that he or she will use to scoop water from the springs water source that has been dug out. This is then poured into the jerrycan or bucket to be carried home. It is an open source, which leaves it prone to contamination and gets even worse during the rainy season as runoff from farms drains into the water.

The people of Musango, especially the women, have a hard time taking care of their children due to the fact that they often fall sick from drinking the water. They spend their hard earned money on medication to treat the waterborne illnesses. This robs them off their time that would have been used doing other productive activities.

"I can’t even mention all the problems we have had as a result of using this water. We have had diarrhea and typhoid," said Mrs. Eldah Chiteli.

Musango is highly vegetated with trees growing and the farms full of sugarcane that is grown for commercial purposes. The area is rural with a peaceful environment as you get deeper into the village. The houses are a mixture of permanent and temporary. Some are iron-roofed while others are thatched.

Few families meet over lunch. Many will have tea that was served for breakfast as lunch. On days set as market days, the women might leave the farms early so that they can visit the market and buy some house commodities. The men will go selling and buying cows on Saturdays. In the evening the children and women are at home doing house chores while the men can be found at the nearest shopping center catching up on different topics like politics, soccer and farming.

What we can do:

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


July, 2020: COVID-19 Prevention Training Update at Musango Community, Ndalusia 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.

Trainer Jonathan installs the prevention reminders chart at the 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 Musango, Kenya.

Handwashing session

We trained more than 13 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.

Everyone practices the 10 steps of handwashing

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.

Handwashing

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

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.

Homemade face mask tutorial

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.

Face mask progress during tutorial

"The training was very lively with children participating in the demonstrations that were very enjoyable. They promised to go and make face masks and also improvise handwashing stations for their parents. They left the training ready to protect themselves and their family members from Coronavirus," reflected trainer Jemmimah.

Demonstrating how to properly put on and wear a face mask using the one made at training

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.

Cough and sneeze into the elbow

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.




April, 2019: Musango Community, Ndalusia Spring Project Complete

Musango Community is celebrating their new protected spring, so celebrate with them! Ndalusia Spring has been transformed into a flowing, safe 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.

Spring Protection

Construction at Ndalusia Spring was successful and water is now flowing from the discharge pipe.

"Finally, the unimaginable has happened. I never thought of a day that I would draw water flowing from a pipe. I am so, so happy. My grandchildren can now fetch water so easily and within a short time," said Mrs. Chiteli.

The Process:

Community members provided all locally available construction materials, e.g bricks, wheelbarrows of clean sand, wheelbarrows of ballast, and gravel. This process was delayed at times that they community had thought they gathered enough stones, but then the artisan would need more. 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.

Excavated spring

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.

Preparing the stairs

The ceramic tiles installed under the discharge pipes protect 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 concrete dried over the course of five days, during which a community member wetted the concrete to make sure it would dry without cracking. The source area was filled up with clean stones and sand and covered with a polyethylene membrane to eliminate any potential sources of contamination.

Filling in the area between the spring eye and the discharge pipe

After the completion of the construction work, the community immediately called the field officer and asked if they could start accessing water. We went as a team to meet the community at the spring to do an official handing over ceremony. With this spring now handed over to the community, we will continue to follow up with the water committee to make sure everything runs smoothly.

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.

New Knowledge

We worked with community member John Shisia to let everyone know about the importance of hygiene and sanitation. Mr. Shisia went door to door to invite each spring user to attend training where they could learn about good health. We held training outside under the shade of trees since there was a cool breeze.

Participants were reluctant at first because they thought the trainer might speak a foreign dialect. Once the trainer started talking in their native tongue they got excited about the sessions.

Participants waiting for training to start

They learned about:

– Leadership and governance
– Management and maintenance of the spring
– Family planning
– Personal hygiene, including handwashing

This topic was special as the participants got to try out how to wash their hands the correct way. The little ones seemed to enjoy it the most and wanted to do it over and over again.

We also taught how to build a leaky tin so that one person can wash their hands on their own


– Dental hygiene
– Waterborne and water-related disease, along with water treatment methods

Community members were also educated on how to handle water safely - from the moment it's drawn at the spring to the point it is consumed at home. The facilitator was able to mention some of the do's and don'ts during water handling. The community members were encouraged to cover their stored water and keep the containers clean.

"From today's training, I have learned that my family has always eaten with dirty hands since we all wash our hands in one small basin with water that is not running. I will always use running water to ensure that we eat food with clean hands," said Mrs. Shisia.




February, 2019: Musango Community, Ndalusia Spring Project Underway

Dirty water from Ndalusia Spring is making people in Musango Community sick. Thanks to your generosity, we’re building 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 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, Ndalusia Spring

February, 2021

A year ago, your generous donation helped Musango Community in Kenya access clean water – creating a life-changing moment for Gentrix. 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 6.

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Musango Community 6 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!

"Before this project was completed, it was hard to get water from this water point. This is because one could waste a lot of time going to fetch water."

"The distance itself from home was tiresome, in addition when you could reach the spring one had to wait for the water to clear up. After one time fetching and pulling the container used for fetching water, it could come up with some mud, hence making you really waste so much time."

"At times when it would rain, the place was also slippery. One would easily fall down and this resulted in injuries."

"Right now, it's so easy to fetch water. This has impacted my life because I can now manage my time very well."

"Since I am a student, sometimes we are given a lot of assignments from school; by accessing clean and safe water, this has actually made me improve in my performance."

"My main plan was to perform better in my education. This water point has helped me achieve this because I now manage my time well. No absenteeism in school because of being sick. My health is good unlike before when I used to suffer a lot from typhoid, a waterborne disease."


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 6 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 6 – 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

John and Maurine Cox Foundation
1 individual donor(s)