February, 2021: Wabuti Spring Project Complete!

Musango Community now has access to clean water! We transformed Wabuti Spring into a flowing source of water thanks to your donation. Our team protected the spring, constructed five sanitation platforms for different households in the community, and trained the community on improved sanitation and hygiene practices, including COVID-19 prevention.

So many people before had promised to help protect their spring, the community recounted, but each had failed to turn up and fulfill their promises. The community had been seeking safe water for so long that it gave them a reason to meet and to socialize, but only to discuss how to solve their water challenges at the spring. Now, they said, after the protection of this spring, they are hoping to be meeting and discussing the other affairs affecting them as people of the Musango community.

"My life will change since I have been going to fetch water from afar and forced to boil it before drinking," said Jamilla Omwivanda, a farmer and mother in the community.

"I will be saving time and having enough water for the house use, and also my cow will be drinking enough water. I will be able to do brick-making activities which I have always been planning to do, but since it requires a lot of water, it has not been easy. I will now be able to actualize the dream while also irrigating my vegetables during the dry season for commercial use," she said.

Children were just as excited as the adults about the new water point.

"I will be able to keep time when going to fetch water, unlike as I used to find the water dirty and had to wait for it to be clean before fetching it," said teenager Lapex.

"I have been planning to tend a small seedbed for sukuma wiki (greens). Especially after school in the evening, I will be able to fetch water and irrigate it," she shared.

Preparing for Spring Protection

Community members worked together to source and carry all locally available construction materials to the spring. These included bricks, sand, stones, and fencing poles. Some people also chiseled away at large stones to break them down into gravel. Because people have to carry most items by hand, the materials collection process can take anywhere from a few weeks to months.

When everything was prepared, we sent a lorry to the community to deliver the rest of the construction materials, including the cement, plastic tarps, and hardware. Then, our artisan and field officers deployed to the spring to begin work. Individual households provided meals throughout each day to sustain the work team.

From Open Source to Protected Spring: A Step-by-Step Process

At last, it was time to dig in at the spring! Women and men lent their strength to the artisan each day to help with the manual labor. First, we cleared and excavated the spring area. We dug a drainage channel below the spring and several surface runoff diversion channels above and around the spring. These help to divert environmental contaminants carried by the rains away from the spring.

To ensure community members could still fetch water throughout the construction process, we also dug temporary diversion channels from the spring’s eye around the construction site. This allowed water to flow without severely disrupting community members’ water needs or the construction work.

Excavation created space for setting the spring’s foundation made of thick plastic tarp, wire mesh, concrete, and waterproof cement. After setting the base, we started brickwork to build the headwall, wing walls, and stairs.

Next, we began one of the most crucial spring protection steps to ensure a fully functional water point: setting the discharge pipe. The discharge pipe has to be low enough in the headwall so that the water level inside never rises above the spring’s eye, yet high enough to leave eighteen to twenty inches between the pipe and the spring floor to allow room for the average jerrycan (a 20-liter container) to sit beneath the pipe without making contact.

If the discharge pipe were placed too high above the spring’s eye, too much backpressure could force the flow to emerge elsewhere. Too low, and community members would not be able to access the water easily. We embedded the pipe using clay (or mortar when the clay is in short supply) and placed it at a slight incline to ensure water flows in the right direction.

In coordination with brickwork, we pitched medium to large stones on both sides of the spring’s drainage channel. We then cemented and plastered each stone group into place, forming the rub walls. These help to discourage people and animals from trying to stand on that area, which could cause soil erosion and thus a clogged drainage area.

With brickwork and stone pitching completed, we turned to cementing and plastering both sides of the headwall and wing walls. These finishing layers reinforce the brickwork and prevent water in the reservoir from seeping through the walls. In turn, enough pressure builds in the reservoir box to push water out through the discharge pipe.

As the headwall and wing walls were curing, we cemented and plastered the stairs and installed four tiles beneath the discharge pipe. The tiles protect the concrete from the falling water's erosive force while also beautifying the spring and facilitating easy cleaning of the spring floor.

We transitioned to the final stages of construction with the tiles in place - backfilling the reservoir box. First, we cleared the collection box of any debris that may have fallen in since its construction, such as dead leaves or other items. Then we redirected the temporary diversion channels back into the reservoir box, channeling water into this area for the first time. We closed off all of the other exits to start forcing the water through the discharge pipe only.

With much help from the community, we filled up the reservoir area with the clean and large stones they gathered, arranging them in layers like a well-fitting puzzle. We covered the stones with a thick plastic tarp to minimize potential contamination sources from aboveground, followed by a layer of soil. We piled enough soil on top to create a slight mound to compensate for the backfill’s future settlement.

Community members transplanted grass onto the backfilled soil to help prevent erosion. Finally, the collection area was fenced to discourage any person or animal from walking on it since compaction can lead to disturbances in the backfill layers and potentially compromise water quality.

The entire construction process took about two weeks of work and patience to allow the cement and plaster to finish curing. As soon as it was ready, people got the okay from our field officers to fetch water.

We officially handed over the spring directly following training to mark the community's ownership of the water point. The community members were very excited to have clean and safe water finally. They sang and danced at the water point to share their appreciation. Also in attendance were members of our staff and some of the area's local leaders. Women, in particular, were very excited as they tried ascending the stairs at the spring for the first time, as the access point used to be so difficult to maneuver in and out of.

Sanitation Platforms

We completed all five sanitation platforms and handed them over to their new owners. These five 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 encourage families to finish building walls and roofs over their new latrine floors and for other families to replicate the design after having helped construct these examples.

Training on Health, Hygiene, COVID-19 and More

Due to the ongoing challenges and restrictions amidst the pandemic, we worked with local leaders and the national Ministry of Health to gain approval for a small group training about health, hygiene, and COVID-19 prevention.

Together with the community, we found their preferred date for training while considering other community calendar events such as the agricultural season and social events. We requested a select yet representative group of community members to attend training, relaying the information learned to the rest of their family and friends. When the day arrived, facilitators Protus, Joyce, and Elvine deployed to the site to lead the event.

15 people attended the training, including community-based leaders and members from the local self-help group. We held the training at the spring landowner's home as it was convenient to the community and our need for water during training. There was plenty of tree shade and space for participants to spread out, and short grass enabled easy seating.

Perhaps the most important topic of the day was our session on COVID-19 prevention and control. Due to the rampant spread of misinformation about COVID-19, we dedicated time to a question and answer session to help debunk rumors about the virus and provide extra information where needed. We also left behind a rice sack painted with messages of COVID-19 prevention reminders in the local language. We affixed the sign to the spring's fence during training and encouraged community members to use it as a daily reminder to stay cautious both at home and at the spring.

"This training has made me know how serious the virus is, and I have also learned how to ensure my family and I remain safe during this pandemic. I will emphasize to my family to comply with the things I have learned here to stay safe from the disease," said Edward Omutere, a farmer in the community.

We covered several other 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 ten steps of handwashing, and how to make and use a tippy tap and leaky tin. We held an election for the newly formed water user committee leaders during the leadership and governance 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 and a cooperative lending group to enable members to develop their own small businesses.

One of the most memorable topics was primary health care during our discussion on switching out stored drinking water every three days. Some community members said they keep their drinking water in their earthen pots until they see the "small animals" in the water come out before declaring the pot dirty. The trainers were keen to advise on more frequent pot cleaning and exchange their water sooner, emphasizing that even clean water from the spring kept for too long can develop when kept in dirty pots.

"This training has made me learn so many new things. I have learned how to handle water, brush my teeth, and prevent myself from the COVID-19 virus. I will apply the same knowledge by training my children to follow the right way of doing things. Hence, they keep themselves from harm," said Rosemary Alima, the elected Chair of the water user committee.

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 field officers' team to assist them. Also, we will continue to offer them unmatchable support as a part of our ongoing monitoring and maintenance program.

Thank you for making all of this possible!

January, 2021: Wabuti Spring Project Underway!

Dirty water from Wabuti Spring is making people in Musango, Kenya sick. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install 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!