Melvin Can Fetch Water Anytime She Wants!

June, 2024

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

Last year, your gift unlocked the potential for a brighter future for Melvin. Since then, she and the Ekapwonje Community of 210 residents have had clean, reliable water. Your contribution has made a significant impact. Thank you for making a difference!

"Water is life and when you take clean water you will have [a] healthy life," shared Melvin.

Before the Spring's Protection

Like many girls in Kenya, 12-year-old Melvin is responsible for collecting water to meet her daily water needs. Before last year’s water intervention, this task stole her time and negatively affected her.

The spring before it was protected.

Drinking the water caused severe consequences. Many in her community suffered from waterborne diseases that created health problems, affecting their daily lives. Limited accessibility also meant people wasted time collecting sufficient water to meet their needs. The difficult journey to collect water sapped their physical and emotional energy, creating roadblocks. For Melvin, in particular, it lessened her opportunity to prioritize her education as collecting water was such an onerous task.

"Before the completion of the project, it was terrible, the place was muddy and slippery. It was challenging to draw water from the spring," she said.

Since the Spring's Protection

Your generous gift last year was much more than a simple donation; it was a powerful statement about your commitment to this community and Melvin’s future. By supporting the water solution, you made clean water an everyday reality, fostering hope for a brighter future.

Melvin at the protected spring.

Reliable and clean water lays the groundwork for improved health, education, and economic possibilities, allowing people to thrive. We frequently hear from those we interview that "water is life!"

"I am happy because I can fetch water any time I want. Be it during [the] rainy season or dry season the waterpoint is accessible," Melvin exclaimed.

"During [the] weekend I use my time properly after helping my mother with domestic work. I do my homework then I go and play with my friends to refresh my mind," she continued.

The Future is Looking Bright!

A year ago, you made a difference for Melvin and the rest of her community. This is just the first chapter of their story as access to clean water continues to improve their lives!

At The Water Project, we value sustainability and want to ensure that people continue to thrive. We commit to monitoring this project to ensure the water is always flowing and safe to consume. We inspect the system hardware, track water availability, conduct sanitary inspections, and collect water quality samples to identify risks. We work with our team on the ground to resolve them.

You gave Melvin a crucial tool for achieving her dreams: access to clean water. Together, we can excitedly expect that with this precious resource, her enthusiasm and courage will help fulfill her dreams.

"My dreams for my future is to serve the community. I want to be a nurse." - Melvin.

Melvin.


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 Ekapwonje 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 Ekapwonje 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.

Project Status



Project Type: Protected Spring

Regional Program: Western Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 210 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Jul 2023

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 10/09/2024

Project Features


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Mushiyundi Spring offers water for the 210 people who live in Ekapwonje Community, but the water is not safe to consume and is making people ill.

The spring is not in good condition, as our field officer Rose Serete noted. "The environment is dirty, with a lot of muddy water accumulating at the drawing point. People step in [the] water while fetching [it]. There's no cut-off drainage. Thus, all the dirt accumulates around the spring when it rains, and also [the] absence of stairs makes accessing the spring very hard. Due to its slippery nature, someone can easily fall [into] the water during fetching."

"Some of the users have reported having suffered from diarrhea and typhoid. I would not drink [it] because the water is contaminated," said Rose.

"So many times while coming to fetch this water have I found frogs in it, and because of having no other options, I end up drinking [it]. A few times I have had to be treated for diarrhea and even typhoid a few weeks ago being the most recent episode," said 29-year-old farmer Phanice Onjira, shown below collecting water at the spring.

Since community members have no other reliable water source, and everyone is relying on the same incorrectly functioning source, there is another problem.

"The people using this spring are many, and so, there is overcrowding at the spring," said Rose.

Nine-year-old Emma (shown below) shared that delays at the waterpoint in the morning due to overcrowding means she often arrives late to school and is punished.

"When water is further away, it requires more time to collect, which often means less time at school. Particularly for girls, a shortage of water in schools impacts student enrolment, attendance and performance." -UNICEF

Protecting the spring will enable people to quickly collect water that is safe to consume and allow them to keep their health and resources for other essential things, like work and school.

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 and More

To hold training, we work closely with both community leaders and the local government. 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.

The training will focus on improved hygiene, health, and sanitation habits in this community. 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


July, 2023: Ekapwonje Community Spring Protection Complete!

Ekapwonje Community now has access to clean water! Thanks to your donation, we transformed their spring into a flowing source of naturally filtered water. We also installed a chlorine dispenser to provide added protection and trained the community on improved sanitation and hygiene practices. Together, these components will unlock the opportunity for community members to live better, healthier lives.

"It will help me carry out my daily activities on time and save me from contracting water-related diseases. It will help me start a tree nursery that will majorly use water from this water point through irrigation, which is a good income-generating activity that will enable me [to] earn a living, and my family member at large will enjoy the fruits," Businesswoman Joan Anangwe, 36, shared.

Joan Anangwe

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

"It will help me harness more water for storage purposes and grant me confidence when using it since it is safe for consumption. This water point will help me by saving time meant for chores and also help me have enough time for my studies. The water point will also enable me [to] have time to play with and visit my friends," 10-year-old Emma O., said.

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

Gathering supplies.

When the community was ready, we sent a truck 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

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.

To ensure community members could still access water throughout the construction process, we also dug temporary channels around the construction site from the spring's eye. This allowed water to flow without disrupting community members' tasks or the construction work. Excavation created space for setting the spring's foundation, made of thick plastic, wire mesh, concrete, and waterproof cement.

Laying the foundation.

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, which prevents cross-contamination.

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

Setting the discharge pipe.

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.

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.

Wall construction.

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.

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 close all other exits to force water through only the discharge pipe.

We filled 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 thick plastic to minimize potential contamination sources, then piled enough dirt on top to compensate for future settling.

Community members transplanted grass onto the backfilled soil to help prevent erosion. 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.

Transplanting grass.

The 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 their local field officers to fetch water.

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. At the handover of the waterpoint to the community, one of its members offered a blessing for the newly protected spring.

Spring protection complete!

Training on Health, Hygiene, 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 and relay the information learned to the rest of their families and friends.

When the day arrived, facilitators, Rose Serete and Samuel Simidi deployed to the site to lead the event. 18 people attended the training. The training took place at one of the community member's homesteads.

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

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.

The most memorable training topic was personal hygiene. The participants were amazed to learn that there was a new technique of hand washing involving the ten steps. The handwashing training involved how to create a tippy tap to wash their hands. This was a valuable, time-saving lesson that many participants enjoyed.

Handwashing training.

"This training enabled me to discover different types of hygiene that is personal, environmental, dental and water hygiene. This knowledge will enable me to have [a] healthy livelihood and prevent me from getting diseases that accompany unhygienic conditions," said 50-year-old farmer Martha Ondeche.

Conclusion

This project required a substantial collaboration between our staff, our in-country teams, and the community members. 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 and there is guaranteed public access in the future. However, if the issue is beyond their capabilities, they can contact their local field officers to assist them.

Also, we will continue to offer them unmatchable support as a part of our monitoring and maintenance program. We walk with each community, problem-solving together when they face challenges with functionality, seasonality, or water quality. Together, all these components help us strive for enduring access to reliable, clean, and safe water for this community.

With your contribution, one more piece has been added to a large puzzle of water projects. In Kenya, Uganda, and Sierra Leone, we're working toward complete coverage. That means reliable, maintained water sources within a 30-minute round trip for each community, household, school, and health center. With this in mind, search through our upcoming projects to see which community you can help next!

Thank you for making all of this possible!




May, 2023: Ekapwonje Community Spring Protection Underway!

The lack of adequate water in Ekapwonje Community costs people time, energy, and health every single day. Clean water scarcity contributes to community instability and diminishes individuals’ personal progress.

But thanks to your recent generosity, things will soon improve here. We are now working to install a reliable water point and improve hygiene standards. We look forward to sharing inspiring news in the near future!




Project Photos



Contributors

5 individual donor(s)