Project Status



Project Type:  Protected Spring

Regional Program: Western Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 120 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Jun 2022

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 03/08/2024

Project Features


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Mugonjia Spring in Musaa Shikoti in Western Kenya relies on a single water source for 120 people. The water source, a spring, is unprotected and open to several different types of contamination from people, animals, and farm runoff.

A recent attempt by someone to protect the spring was unsuccessful because they did not do it correctly. The water flow was disrupted, which slowed it down and led to overcrowding and delays as people waited to collect water.

Melody K., a 12-year-old girl who has the responsibility of collecting water for her family, shared, "Personally, I have been punished on several occasions by my mother for delaying at the spring. How I wish the spring will be protected so I can take the shortest time possible at the spring."

Community members also continue to get sick from drinking contaminated water. They lose valuable income when they become ill and must pay to treat preventable diseases. Other essential family needs, like schooling fees for children, must wait, as they do not have the income to pay for both.

Moses Nandwa, a 40-year-old father who makes his limited livelihood as a farmer, shared, "I remember there was a time I couldn't pay my last born's school fee. I was admitted to the hospital, and the bill was abnormal. My daughter had to stay at home for one term because I couldn't afford to pay the hospital bill and school fees as well."

The whole community is looking forward to the spring being protected properly and willing to provide all needed materials. They are also excited about the promised hygiene and sanitation training once it's constructed. They're ready to learn!

What We Can Do:

Spring Protection

Protecting the spring will help provide access to cleaner and safer water and reduce the time people have to spend to fetch it. 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 a task predominantly carried out by women and young girls. Protecting the spring and offering training and support will, therefore, help empower the female members of the community by freeing up more of their time and energy to engage and invest in income-generating activities and their education.

Training on Health, Hygiene, COVID-19, and More

To hold trainings during the pandemic, we work closely with both community leaders and the local government to approve small groups to attend training. We ask community leaders to invite a select yet representative group of people to attend training who will then act as ambassadors to the rest of the community to share what they learn. We also communicate our expectations of physical distancing and wearing masks for all who choose to attend.

The training will focus on improved hygiene, health, and sanitation habits in this community. We will also have a dedicated session on COVID-19 symptoms, transmission routes, and prevention best practices.

With the community's input, we will identify key leverage points where they can alter their practices at the personal, household, and community levels to affect change. This training will help to ensure participants have the knowledge they need about healthy practices and their importance to make the most of their water point as soon as water is flowing.

Our team of facilitators will use a variety of methods to train community members. Some of these methods include participatory hygiene and sanitation transformation, asset-based community development, group discussions, handouts, and demonstrations at the spring.

One of the most important issues 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 is consumed. We and the community strongly believe that all of these components will work together to improve living standards here, which will help to unlock the potential for these community members to live better, healthier lives.

We will then conduct a small series of follow-up trainings before transitioning to our regularly scheduled support visits throughout the year.

Training will result in the formation of a water user committee, elected by their peers, that will oversee the operations and maintenance of the spring. The committee 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 channels. The fence will keep out destructive animals and unwanted waste, and the drainage will keep the area's mosquito population at a minimum.

Project Updates


June, 2022: Musaa Shikoti Community Spring Protection Complete!

Musaa Shikoti Community now has access to clean water! We transformed Mugonjia Spring into a flowing source of naturally filtered water thanks to your donation. Our team also trained the community on improved sanitation and hygiene practices. Together, these components will unlock the opportunity for community members to live better, healthier lives.

Community members celebrate their protected spring.

Evelyn Lumiti, a 52-year-old businesswoman, said, "I cannot control my happiness to see water flowing from the pipe. It has been such a long wait coupled with misery and suffering because the spring was not in good condition. Now it is easy to access at the water point. Given that water is now readily available, I will have more time to engage in other economic activities in order to improve the livelihood of my family."

Evelyn.

Children were just as excited as adults about the new waterpoint.

A little one enjoying a drink.

We interviewed 13-year old Melody K before the spring protection. Back then, her largest challenge was not being able to collect water quickly enough, which at times led to her being punished at home.

But now, Melody said, "After school, I will not waste time at the spring queuing for water. I will use the water to bathe, wash my school uniform, and also wash my beddings."

Melody.

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 rocks to break them down into gravel. Because people have to carry most items by hand, the material-collection process can take anywhere from a few weeks to months.

Community children helping collect construction items.

When the community was ready, we sent a lorry to deliver the remaining construction materials, including cement, plastic tarps, and hardware. Then, our construction 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! Locals lent their strength to the artisans to help with the manual labor.

First, we cleared and excavated the spring area. Next, we dug a drainage channel below the spring and several runoff diversion channels above and around the spring. These help to divert surface contaminants away.

Site clearance.

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

Building the foundation.

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

Once the walls had grown tall enough, we began one of the most crucial steps: setting the discharge pipe. The discharge pipe needs to be positioned low enough in the headwall so the water level never rises above the spring's eye, yet high enough to allow room for the average jerrycan (a 20-liter container) to sit beneath the pipe without making contact.

Setting the discharge pipe.

If we place the discharge pipe too high above the spring's eye, backpressure could force water 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 clay is in short supply) and placed it at an incline to ensure water flows in the right direction.

In coordination with brickwork, we pitched stones on both sides of the spring's drainage channel. We then cemented and plastered each stone, forming the rub walls. These walls discourage people and animals from standing in that area, which could cause soil erosion and a clogged drainage area.

Creating rub walls.

We then cemented and plastered 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 cured, 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.

Installing tiles on the spring floor.

The final stage of construction is backfilling the reservoir box behind the discharge pipe. We cleared the collection box of any debris that may have fallen during construction. 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 water through the discharge pipe only.

We filled up the reservoir area with the large, clean stones community members had gathered, arranging them in layers like a well-fitting puzzle. We covered the rocks with a thick plastic tarp to minimize potential contamination sources, then piled enough dirt on top to compensate for future settling.

Backfilling the spring box.

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. Compaction can lead to disturbances in the backfill layers and potentially compromise water quality.

Community members helping transplant grass.

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

Excited community members.

We officially handed over the spring to mark the community's ownership of the water point. Happiness, thanksgiving, and appreciation were the order of the day, flowing in all directions. Community members expressed their appreciation and celebrated the flowing water by singing and dancing.

Training on Health, Hygiene, COVID-19, and More

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 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 Mary Afandi and Rose Amulavu deployed to the site to lead the event. 34 people attended the training, including 22 women and 12 men. We held the training under the shade of trees on the landowner's homestead.

Opening the training with prayer.

We covered several topics, including community participation in the project, leadership and governance, personal and environmental hygiene, water handling and treatment, spring maintenance, dental hygiene, the ten steps of handwashing, disease prevention, and how to make and use handwashing stations.

Participants listening.

During the leadership and governance session, we held an election for the newly formed water user committee leaders, who will oversee the maintenance of the spring. We also brainstormed income-generating activities. Community members can now start a group savings account for any future minor repairs to the spring and a cooperative lending group, enabling them to develop small businesses.

Practicing soap making.

Participants were eager to learn soapmaking and found it to be a very interesting topic. One of the participants, Madam Everlyne, said that they have been buying diluted liquid soap from the market which was not of good quality compared to the one that they had participated in making. She said she will be among the soap sellers so she can generate income.

Moses.

Moses Nandwa, 23, the community volunteer health worker, shared, "The training was valuable to me because I have been taught how to make liquid soap and where I can get the chemicals. I will use the knowledge learned to make quality soap to use and also sell some at the market so that I can earn an extra coin."

When an issue arises concerning the spring, 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, 2022: Musaa Shikoti Community Spring Protection Underway!

A severe clean water shortage in Musaa Shikoti Community drains people’s time, energy, and health. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install a clean water point and much more.

Get to know this community through the introduction and pictures we’ve posted, and read about this water, sanitation, and hygiene project. We look forward to reaching out with more good news!




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!


A Year Later: Better Health Means Going to School Every Day!

May, 2023

A year ago, your generous donation helped Musaa Shikoti Community in Kenya access clean water – creating a life-changing moment for Eugene. Thank you!

Keeping The Water Promise

There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Musaa Shikoti Community.

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Musaa Shikoti 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!

Eugene S., 15, recalled what life was like in Musaa Shikoti Community before his community’s spring was protected last year.

"The place was muddy and slippery because we did not have stairs for easy accessibility, which was dangerous, especially to young ones," said Eugene.

But water collection is much safer for Eugene and the other community members in Musaa Shikoti now.

"Both young ones and adults can easily access the water point without trouble. We are also taking home treated water by using the chlorine installed next to the spring, which has [a] good influence on our health," Eugene said.

Having ready access to water from the protected spring has made a difference for Eugene, making water collection easier and allowing his health to improve.

"Healthwise, [I] am good because we drink treated water always. And by being healthwise fit, I have no problem attending school daily," Eugene concluded.

Thank you for helping Eugene access clean water so he can go to school every day.

Right now, there are others just like him in neighboring communities that desperately need safe water access. Your support will immediately go to work to provide a clean water project - and we can’t wait to introduce you to the next person you’ll help.

Eugene at the protected spring.


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 Musaa Shikoti 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 Musaa Shikoti 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.


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