June, 2020: COVID-19 Prevention Training Update at Musango Community, Mushikhulu 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.

The new tippy tap made at training

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 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.

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.

Homemade mask tutorial

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.

Prevention reminders chart installed at the spring

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.

A woman shows the informational pamphlet on COVID-19 she received 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.

Practicing the 10 steps of handwashing

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.

June, 2019: Musango Community, Mushikhulu Spring Project Complete

Musango Community is celebrating its new protected spring, so celebrate with them!  Mushikhulu 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 Mushikhulu Spring was successful and water is now flowing from the discharge pipe.

"I am so happy! In fact let me say we are so happy as a community. It has been a dream forever to have clean water in our area but we thought it might never come true... we have our own clean water. It means a lot to us," said Mr. Wando.

The Process:

The community worked alongside our artisan to make this spring protection successful, gathering supplementary materials like sand and stones and making meals for the work team.

The spring area was excavated with jembes, hoes, and spades to create space for setting the foundation of polyethylene, wire mesh, and concrete. Cement, waterproof coating, ballast, and sand were mixed together to make a very strong foundation.

Brickwork started whereby the artisan took all of the required measurements of the spring structure before proceeding with the work. Construction of the superstructure continued with discharge pipes fixed in the brick wall. Stairs were built on one side of the spring to allow in and out movement by users.

Checking measurements as the wall progresses

Stone pitching along the lower part of the spring was done to prevent soil from eroding and blocking the outlet drainage. Finally, the plastering of the walls and the floor was done, and tiles were placed below the discharge pipes to keep the falling water from hitting the cement.

Stone pitching

The spring was then left for two days to undergo curing and hardening before being backfilled using stones.

Polythene was stretched across the top and covered with soil to allow clean water to flow from the pipe. Community members promised to dig cut-off drainage at the slope of the spring to divert surface water from entering the spring and to also plant grass over the protected area to prevent erosion.

Some local men carried branches to build a fence that keeps people and animals from walking across the protected area

We had a unique experience while protecting Mushikhulu Spring, too!

It is located in Musango Village on a steep slope that drops from Mr. Elphas' compound down to the farms that border the famous Lusumu River. Community members practice farming along this riverbank and some try keeping fish in small ponds. This is a typical rural setting that has many wild animals moving around, mostly at night.

During the implementation of this spring, we happened to come across some young men who were hunting for an animal believed to be causing them great loss: it would eat chicks and chicken eggs each night. Fortunately, they found the animal preying on their chickens. Indeed, being in Musango was a fun adventure throughout the entire process.

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 will continue to encourage them to finish building walls and roofs over their new latrine floors as we visit for monitoring and evaluation.

New Knowledge

We worked with our community contact person, Mr. Wando, who was able to mobilize community members in preparation of hygiene and sanitation training. We asked him to invite both men and women of all ages.

It was truly a hot day, so we decided to gather outside under one of Mr. Wando's mango trees. Community members were shy at the beginning of the training and wouldn't answer many questions, but the facilitator continued to encourage them. They need to share their own experiences and opinions for the benefit of everyone. They started to participate much more actively and by the end of training, they were quick and eager to communicate both with us and each other.

Participants learned about:

– Leadership and governance for the spring committee
– Management and maintenance of the spring

The trainer took everyone down to the nearby spring to teach about how a spring protection works. At the spring, she showed them the different parts of the spring such as the catchment area and the box. She encouraged them to always keep the spring protected with a fence and advised them not to balance filled jerrycans on the drawing pipe for this would weaken it. Having stated many ways of maintaining the spring, including keeping it clean, the community members were able to brainstorm some of their own guidelines as well.

Community members received notebooks and pens to record new things they want to remember

– Family planning
– Personal hygiene, highlighting handwashing and dental hygiene

The trainer demonstrated the 10 steps of thorough handwashing, which must be done with running water and a cleaning agent such as soap or ash.

The handwashing sessions started out with the children showing how they wash their hands before every meal. This is when we discovered that they all dunk their hands in the same container. We followed up by teaching that if handwashing is to be effective, you must use running water and soap

– Environmental hygiene

The community should keep the environment clean by sweeping up and burning rubbish. People don't need to purchase a broom from the market; they could instead use local materials like twigs and branches to sweep. They were also encouraged to plant more trees, cut long grass around their homes, and drain stagnant waters (since these are mosquito breeding grounds).

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

"I have understood why my teeth have been developing holes in them. I don't brush my teeth before going to bed. I will try and take good care of my teeth now," said Mrs. Mukhwana.

Thank You for making all of this possible!

April, 2019: Musango Community, Mushikhulu Spring Project Underway

Dirty water from Mushikhulu Spring is making people in Musango Community sick. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to solve this issue by 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 again with news of success!