Rehabilitation Project
The water from Shikuku Spring is unsafe. The water was green in appearance, likely from the build-up of algae. Because it is open, children throw leaves and dirty bottles in the water, contributing to the contamination of the source.
Some of the community members opt to fetch water from a nearby river since the spring is not protected. To them, there is no difference between the water from the two sources. However, protecting Shikuku Spring will ensure that all community members have access to safe water, which will reduce waterborne diseases.
“The problem forces us to drink dirty water which has brought us a lot of problems. We have suffered until we have no money to spend anymore,” said John Shinyaka, a local farmer.
Most people here, like John, make a living through agriculture. Some people will engage in employment in the nearby city of Kakamega and a few others will work as “boda boda” motorcycle taxi drivers.
Most households do not have latrines, nor do they have handwashing stations. This low level of hygiene and sanitation is in part due to the water problem faced by people living here.
Our teams say that the latrines they observed are dangerous because the floors are made of wood with a lot of spaces in between. They are also not cleaned regularly and no water is kept nearby.
What we can do:
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.
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.
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 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.
