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.
Chlorine Dispenser
We install uniquely engineered chlorine dispensers at all of our spring protection projects so community members can treat their water with a pre-measured dose of chlorine. Diluted chlorine is a regular part of water treatment, worldwide. The chlorine stays active for two to three days, ensuring water stays safe to use even when stored at home. Both the chlorine delivery and the maintenance of these dispensers are a part of our ongoing community support.
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 Victor Musemi, Field Officer
Victor was born and raised in Vihiga County, Kenya. He is passionate about meeting new people during projects and really loves his job. He looks forward to transforming the lives of marginalized people who are stuck in a cycle of poverty.
Victor has been a Field Officer since 2018, with WeWaSaFo, The Water Project's trusted partner in our Western Kenya WaSH Program.
It was a very hot and sunny day when we first visited Ibinzo Community. We were forced to look for shade and rest quite a few times.
There are 245 people living in this area, with the average family size being seven to eight. All of these people rely on dirty water from Lucia Spring.
Lucia Spring is open to all kinds of contamination, and the water is visibly filthy. Imagining how the young ones, women, and men are consuming such water is heartbreaking. People in this community suffer a lot.
Most of the community members suffer from typhoid after drinking this unsafe water. The poor drainage at these water points creates a breeding ground for mosquitoes, and those who live nearby suffer from malaria. "Majority of us do not treat the water from the spring. All this for decades has posed danger to our health and some have died prematurely due to contracting diseases such as typhoid," said Mrs. Mercyline Mbone.
"Consuming water from this unprotected water source has always posed dangers to our health," said Mr. Joseph Ndeta.
"The most-affected are the pregnant mothers and the children. We have used a lot of resources to cater for medication purposes, thus leaving our community underdeveloped."
Health issues caused by dirty water cause breadwinners to miss out on providing for their families. They need their health to grow and sell vegetables, raise poultry, and run their motorbike taxi businesses.
What we can do:
Training
"This community's hygiene and sanitation condition is very poor," admitted Mrs. Mercyline Mbone.
"We do not have permanent toilets, the floor is made of mud which makes it difficult to clean the surface, and most of the community members do not wash their hands when they visit the toilets."
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.
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
Less than 70% of households have their own private place to use the bathroom. Those who do not have a pit latrine go outside in the bushes.
On the final day of training, participants will select five families that should most 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
August, 2020: Through Their Eyes: COVID-19 Chronicles with Violet Kadenyi Nabwera
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.
Violet Kadenyi Nabwera sees a lot of changes happening in her home due to the pandemic. She is also seeing a lot of her family - the most time they've ever spent together under 1 roof, in fact - because of the various iterations of lockdowns and restrictions in their area. But she'll get to that.
At 45-years-old, Violet is a farmer, mother, and missionary living in Ibinzo. Together with her family, Violet depends on Lucia Spring for all of their daily water needs whenever they are home - which, lately, is all of the time. Despite the challenges and worries brought on by COVID-19, Violet remains steadfast in her positive attitude and is determined to find the good in every situation they face.
Violet Kadenyi Nabwera
Our team recently visited Ibinzo to conduct a COVID-19 prevention training (read more about it below!) and monitor their water point. 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 Violet shared her story of how the coronavirus has impacted her life.
Trainings Manager Jacklyne Chelagat met Violet outside her home to conduct the interview. Both Jacklyne and Violet observed physical distancing and other precautions throughout the visit to ensure their health and safety. The following is Violet's story, in her own words.
Violet tells how her community has changed since the protection of Lucia Spring, and how they are using its clean water to get through the pandemic.
"The installation of Lucia Spring brought with it a lot of benefits to our community. Members of our community no longer contract water-related diseases. Sanitation and hygiene have been improved and the spring no longer dries up since the water is well directed to 1 point for drawing, making it accessible to everyone.
The outbreak of COVID-19 has caused changes in all sectors and our spring is not an exception. We agreed as community members to fetch water in turns, some to fetch in the morning, others in the afternoon and in the evening. While fetching water, everyone is supposed to wear a face mask, observe social distancing, and take the shortest time possible at the spring.
We spotted girls from different households observing physical distancing at the spring.
One of the guidelines issued by the government is frequent handwashing and maintaining high levels of hygiene. To achieve this, we have been constantly getting water from the spring. We use water from the spring to wash our hands, clean surfaces in our homes, and to clean reusable face masks.
The most important steps the community members are observing every day include: washing hands frequently, wearing masks, and to some extent keeping social distance. We no longer hold gatherings for [just any] reason.
Violet washes her hands with soap and clean water from Lucia Spring using the handwashing station she set up outside her home.
My husband and I are missionaries who move from one place to the other spreading gospel. Due to the COVID-19 outbreak, restrictions were placed to limit movements and this made it difficult for us to fulfill our mission and passion.
On the other hand, my children are at home as a result of school closures; this has interfered with their academic programs, making them look disoriented. However, the pandemic has increased the parent-child bonding and it has created a conducive environment for parent-child relations. As a family, we have spent so much time together and we have learned a lot from one another. As a matter of fact, this is the longest time we have stayed together as a family.
Violet with her 2 daughters at home.
[The pandemic] has highly promoted boredom as we spend most of the time indoors. We no longer go visiting friends and relatives. Loss of income is also the greatest challenge as we use to get support anytime we traveled to spread the gospel. Today, everyone treats the other as a suspect and potential carriers of the virus.
The restriction I was most excited to see uplifted is the ability to allow congregants to attend churches and places of worship. It was really frustrating when on Sundays, we could all stay at home and only attend services via television, radio, or social media. But considering the fact that infection cases are on the increase, I am currently comfortable with the restrictions placed because they are for our good and safety."
Trainings Manager Jacklyne Chelagat leads the interview with Violet and camera operator Allan Amadaro
When asked where she receives information about COVID-19, Violet listed the radio, television, 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 acquisition of knowledge about making masks locally. This helped the needy in the community who could not afford to purchase masks to be able to get them."
May, 2020: COVID-19 Prevention Training Update at Ibinzo Community, Lucia Spring
Trainer Shigali passing out 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 Ibinzo, Kenya.
Al elder shows his pamphlet
We trained more than 12 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 face 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.
Demonstrating how to sew a face mask
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.
Handwashing demonstration
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.
Installing the prevention reminder chart at the spring
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.
Team Leader Catherine Cehpkemoi emphasizes handwashing and social distancing as key preventative measures
May, 2019: Ibinzo Community, Lucia Spring Project Complete
Ibinzo Community is celebrating its new protected spring, so celebrate with them! Lucia 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 Lucia Spring was successful and water is now flowing from the discharge pipe.
"We are so glad to have this water point! Now I know water-related diseases will be out of this community. Initially, we had been suffering from the menace of waterborne diseases like typhoid and diarrhea. We have been using a lot of family resources to treat our loved ones which increased our poverty level," Village Elder Ndeta recalled.
"Now that we can get clean and safe water, our hygiene and sanitation standards will improve and poverty levels for this community will reduce because we shall use our resources to generate more income and enhance our lives. Thank you for bringing joy in our community!"
Ibinzo Community is very happy about the project. They promised to form a self-help group and will use the water drainage from the spring to make a fish pond since there is a high demand for fish in the community. They will sell the fish and generate income.
They are planning to register the group and get a certificate from the government, which will give them access to government grants that they will use to boost their fish farming and engage in more income-generating activities like poultry farming, banana growing, and many other things. Because of this, they are projecting to increase their living standards and eradicate poverty in their community.
The Process:
Community members provided all locally available construction materials, e.g bricks, clean sand, wheelbarrows of ballast, and gravel. Some even made extra efforts to work alongside the artisan after delivering all of the materials. Community members also hosted our artisans for the duration of construction.
Carrying bricks down to the artisan
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.
The ceramic tiles installed under the discharge pipe protect the concrete from the erosive force of the falling water and beautify 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.
After the backfilling was done at the reservoir area, the community members were already waiting and ready with poles and nails to help the artisan fence in the area.
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
During construction, we asked the village elder to mobilize participants for a hygiene and sanitation training session. Attendance was as expected since we asked the community itself to give us the ideal time for training.
It was cold early in the morning but as the day progressed, it became hot and sunny. But since we conducted the training under a large mango tree where there was cool shade, the environment was still comfortable for the participants. All of the participants seemed to be very interested in the training and were busy making notes and nodding their heads whenever the facilitator made a point.
Participants learned about:
– Leadership and governance for the spring committee
– Management and maintenance of the spring
For this topic, the facilitator did an onsite training to show people the parts of the spring and to teach them how to operate and maintain the water source so that it will serve future generations.
Village leadership was there and said that they will formulate some rules concerning the care and maintenance of this facility, and whoever breaches those rules should pay a fine. That money will then go into a savings account for any repairs when they are needed.
– Family planning
– Personal hygiene, including handwashing
Participants follow along as the trainer demonstrates handwashing
– Dental hygiene
Participants enjoyed any topic that included demonstrations. Everyone wanted to get up and volunteer during both the handwashing training and toothbrushing training.
– Waterborne and water-related disease, along with water treatment methods
"I'm glad to be among those who attended this training. I have learned a lot of information concerning hygiene, leadership, the importance of community participation and collaboration, and how to take care of the spring," recounted Mrs. Tunde.
"Initially, I did not know the ten steps of handwashing, nor I did not know how to brush my teeth correctly. Now that I know, I will exercise these lessons and train others on the same. I promise that the sanitation and hygiene for my family and this society at large will improve."
Thank You for making all of this possible!
February, 2019: Ibinzo Community, Lucia Spring Project Underway
Dirty water from Lucia Spring is making people in Ibinzo Community sick. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to build 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 news of success!
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: Ibinzo Community, Lucia Spring
February, 2021
A year ago, your generous donation helped Ibinzo Community in Kenya access clean water – creating a life-changing moment for Millicent. Thank you!
Keeping The Water Promise
There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Ibinzo Community.
This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Ibinzo 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!
"Before protection, the spring was too open - even dogs could drink from it, thus exposing it to contamination. Everyone could come and dip their dirty containers inside the spring water."
"Since the protection of the spring, we no longer have diarrhea and we don't queue at the spring to draw water."
"When you look around the spring, my parents have planted vegetables. The water from the spring has really helped us to water crops during the dry season, thus enhancing food security and income generation."
Community member Esther Tea fetches water.
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 Ibinzo 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 Ibinzo 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.
Rehabilitation Project
