June, 2020: COVID-19 Prevention Training Update at Mukangu Community, Metah 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 Jacky makes a leaky tin

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 Mukangu, Kenya.

We trained more than 15 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.

Handwashing demonstration

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.

Practicing handwashing steps

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.

All ages can learn 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.

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.

Homemade mask tutorial

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.

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.

March, 2020: Mukangu Community, Metah Spring Project Complete!

Please note, all photos in this report were taken before social distancing recommendations went into place.

Mukangu Community now has access to clean water! Metah Spring has been transformed into a flowing source of water thanks to your donation. We protected the spring, constructed 5 sanitation platforms for different households in the community, and we trained the community on improved sanitation and hygiene practices.

At Metah Spring, Dreams of Clean Water Run in the Family

This spring was named Metah after the late mother of Mr. Aggrey Lusimba, the spring's landowner. The name was written in memory of this late mother who pioneered to ensure that her family accessed clean and safe drinking water.

"Though she died before seeing her dream come true, but truly wherever she is she is singing and thanking God that her dream has finally been realized," said one of the key figures in this project.

Mr. Aggrey Lusimba

Mr. Lusimba elaborated on how Mama Metah would walk miles and miles, office to office, seeking help to have clean water in her community. This was prompted by the attack she had of typhoid that nearly cost her her life. She had to be hospitalized at the County Referral Hospital of Kakamega for treatment and spent close to Ksh 12,000 ($120) which was a lot of money that would have otherwise been used for undertaking other productive activities.

At one point, she made everyone laugh when she stated that she was going to write a proposal of spring protection to the president of Kenya as she believed it was the government's role to ensure that its people accessed clean and safe drinking water.

Rebecca Metah stands proudly with the spring (under construction at the time) that shares her namesake, her grandmother

"My name is Rebecca Metah, and I was named after my grandmother. She was called Metah. She was the pioneer of safe and clean drinking water in this community. She went to be with the Lord and may her soul rest in peace. She walked from office to office seeking help regarding the protection of our spring. From the chief's office to the District Commissioner's office, and all her efforts were futile. She walked with a 1-page proposal that was done by my elder brother Kusimba."

"Today in my life is the greatest day as I took over her name and I also inherited her passion for safe, clean water in this community. I had planned that once I start working I will use my salary to improve our spring. Thanks to your team and all of you who have worked tirelessly to ensure that we have safe clean drinking water," concluded Metah.

How We Protected Metah Spring

When the hardware materials were finally delivered to the community, the excitement amongst the community members could not be contained. Everyone gathered to see the deliveries being made that confirmed and truly marked the beginning of a turning point in their lives to accessing safe drinking water.

Community members provided all locally available construction materials, including bricks, wheelbarrows of clean sand, stones, and fencing poles. Accommodations and meals were provided for the artisan at Mr. Aggrey Lusimba's home, and women and men lent their strength to the artisan to help with the manual labor, too.

The Process

On the day the artisans arrived, they walked into the compound of Mr. Aggrey Lusimba and they were served with a cup of tea. They then proceeded straight to the spring. First, the spring area was cleared and excavated to create space for setting the foundation of thick plastic tarp, wire mesh, and concrete.  Since the rains had begun, the artisans covered the slab with cement bags and banana leaves and retired to Mr. Lusimba's home where they were sheltered. They were grateful to be served with hot steaming ugali (corn mush) and sukuma wiki (greens).

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.

Artisan sets the discharge pipe into the headwall

As the wing walls and headwall were curing, 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.

Cement work on the walls and stone pitching

The source area was filled up with clean stones and sand and covered with a thick plastic tarp to prevent potential sources of contamination. Then soil was layered on top of the tarp so that community members could transplant grass to prevent erosion. Finally, the collection area was fenced in. It took about 2 weeks of patience for the concrete to dry.

Adding the thick plastic tarp as a mid-layer in the backfill

As soon as it was ready, people got the okay from our field officers to begin fetching clean water. We met them there to celebrate this momentous occasion. Happiness, thanksgiving, and appreciation were the order of the day flowing in all directions.

Kids get a fresh cup of water from the spring

Sanitation Platforms

All 5 sanitation platforms have been installed. These 5 families are happy about this milestone of having a private latrine of their own and are optimistic that people will no longer leave waste outdoors. We are continuing to encourage families to finish building walls and roofs over their new latrine floors.

A new sanitation platform owner

New Knowledge

Village elder, spring landowner, and community pastor all-in-one Mr. Aggrey Lusimba helped organize the training in coordination with our team. As a man who commands respect and has a voice in this community, when he informed the community members about the project they all turned up and participated effectively in the construction and training. Together we found the community’s preferred date for training while considering other events in the community calendar such as the agricultural season and expected gatherings. When the day arrived, Lead Field Officer for this project Karen Maruti deployed to the site with Field Officer Betty Muhongo.

The quorum for the participants was not as expected, however, with just 11 people in attendance at training as the community had lost a dear one who was being removed from the morgue that day and a majority of the people had gone to be with the bereaved family and console them. Because they had awaited this project for so long, however, they agreed that the training should not be postponed but rather have representatives to attend the training as others proceeded to the funeral. We did as requested as forged ahead with the day.

Facilitator Karen opens training

The training was held at Mr. Aggrey Lusimba’s homestead and the practical sessions were conducted at the spring site. On this particular day, the weather was cloudy since it had rained heavily the previous afternoon. As the training came to a close, it started raining heavily again and everyone ran to their homes to take in clothes left outside to dry. Everyone in this training was very active, particularly in the sessions on hygiene, and their level of understanding was good.

We covered several topics including community participation in the project; leadership and governance; personal and environmental hygiene; water handling and treatment; operation and maintenance of the spring and sanitation platforms; dental hygiene; the 10 steps of handwashing, and how to make and use a tippy tap and leaky tin. During the leadership and governance session, we held an election for the leaders of the newly formed water user committee.

Mr. Lusimba's son (also called Mr. Lusimba) demonstrates toothbrushing during the dental hygiene session

We also brainstormed income-generating activities that can be used to start both a community savings account for any future minor repairs to the spring, as well as a cooperative lending group to enable members to develop their own small businesses.

Karen covers spring maintenance at the construction site

It was during the discussion on spring maintenance that some of the training participants said they could not forget those who had not contributed toward the project yet. These speakers informed the facilitator that they did not want the non-helpers to fetch water from the spring. The facilitator took this time to emphasize that this water point was being protected only because it had been promised to remain a public water source for all who came upon it, regardless of their position or level of help at the time of construction. The facilitator Karen circled back to their discussion on group dynamics to address the attitudinal and behavioral characteristics this issue brought into play.

Field Officer Betty evaluates an improvised leaky tin for handwashing outside the latrine in Mr. Aggrey Lusimba's homestead

Environmental hygiene was another memorable topic. In part of this session, Karen encouraged everyone to avoid open defecation and to use latrines as it helped both their groundwater supply and their health. At this juncture in the training, the energy was high with everyone excited about the new hygiene concepts learned and discussions ensued amongst them. The woman who owns a sugarcane plantation near the spring asked all those who had been defecating in her sugarcane to stop with immediate effect or else the faces would follow them everywhere they went! At this point, everyone burst out laughing in good fun. This led to a great discussion on the negative consequences of open defecation.

Betty talks about the hygiene benefits of clotheslines using the Lusimba homestead's example

When an issue arises concerning the water project, the water user committee is equipped with the necessary skills to rectify the problem and ensure the water point works appropriately. However, if the issue is beyond their capabilities, they can contact our team of field officers to assist them. In addition, we will continue to offer them unmatchable support as a part of our ongoing monitoring and maintenance program.

"I am very grateful to you for organizing this training forum. We have had many cases of diarrhea outbreaks in this community in the past and little did my people know that apart from drinking dirty water, poor hygiene practices were also contributory factors. In the chief's barazas (meetings) we get the Community Health Volunteers teaching people matters of hygiene but many a time my people do not attend due to competing tasks. But today, the training has come to my doorstep and I am grateful," shared Mr. Aggrey Lusimba.

Thank you for making all of this possible!

February, 2020: Mukangu Community, Metah Spring Project Underway!

Dirty water from Metah Spring is making people in Mukangu sick. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install a clean water point and much more.

Get to know this community through the video, 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!