May, 2021: Murutu Spring Project Complete!

Khaunga A Community now has access to clean water! We transformed Murutu Spring into a flowing source of water, thanks to your donation. Our team protected the spring and trained the community on improved sanitation and hygiene practices, including COVID-19 prevention.

"I now have water for drinking nearby. I will be preparing lunch for the children from school on time. This will save my time to cater to other activities," said Caroline Amakhongo, a farmer and mother in the community.

"I have experienced some ailments before [related to water from the unprotected spring]. With the money I will save, I will begin a small business at least to get some profit to ensure I take my children to school to get access to education," Caroline added.

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

"I used to go collect water from a distance for drinking after school. I will not be going there anymore, and I will save time. I had wanted to plant vegetables in a seed bed and some trees. I will irrigate them using the water," said primary school-aged Yvonne.

"The community came together and was able to work as one during the implementation of the project, right from the locally available materials mobilization to the completion of the project," noted Programs Coordinator Protus Ekesa, who helped lead the team that saw this spring to completion.

Preparing for Spring Protection

Community members worked together to source and carried 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 the 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. This allows 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 slightly 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 discourage people and animals from standing on that area, which could cause soil erosion and thus a clogged drainage area.

We turned to cementing and plastering both sides of the headwall and wing walls with brickwork and stone pitching completed. 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 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.

During the dedication ceremony, the water users came in large numbers to be handed over the project since they had waited for this opportunity to start fetching water. There was a celebration at the water point to mark the occasion with community members singing and shouting when the moment arrived. The ceremony was attended by the water users, including the village elder.

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There were three older women in the community, ages 87, 70, and 69, who had difficulties accessing the water point in particular before its protection. After protection, these women were the first ones to go down the steps of the newly protected spring to access and fetch the water. They were so excited to have been considered a community for the project, and they were so grateful for the good work done.

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 and social events. We requested a representative group of community members to attend training to relay the information learned to the rest of their family and friends.

When the day arrived, facilitators Protus, Elvine, and Adelide deployed to the site to lead the event. 32 people attended the training, including community-based leaders and the local Village Health Volunteer. We held the training at the spring because it had enough space for physical distancing and plenty of fresh air in the shade.

Perhaps the most crucial 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.

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; 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 a community savings account for any future minor repairs to the spring and a cooperative lending group to enable members to develop small businesses.

"This new knowledge will help me now to be keeping water for drinking safe, and also my environment will be kept safe. The knowledge will also help me to follow the COVID-19 measures more strictly than before," said Grace Murutu, a farmer and village elder.

"The knowledge has acted as an eye-opener to me since I just heard things from the radio, but I had no one which reached me to inform me in person about COVID-19. I will be very cautious to avoid being infected by the virus," said Dickson Murutu, a farmer in the community.

"We had not taken this virus seriously since we just heard it from the radio and people. We bought some masks just in case someone wants to go far from here. I am so afraid of this virus because of the way it kills people. It has stopped so many activities," Dickson added. He said the most valuable parts of the training included the sessions on "wearing face masks in the right manner, washing hands with soap and running water, avoiding handshaking and hugging, and avoiding overcrowding."

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 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!

April, 2021: Murutu Spring Project Underway!

Dirty water from Murutu Spring is making people in Khaunga A, 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!