Shirleen Hopes to Become a Teacher!

May, 2025

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

Last year, your gift unlocked the potential for a brighter future for Shirleen. Since then, she and the Shinoko Community of 300 residents have had clean, reliable water. Your contribution has made a significant impact. Thank you for making a difference!

"Clean water has made me love doing chores at home. I enjoy washing my clothes with my younger sister."

Before the Spring Protection

Like many young girls in Kenya, 8-year-old Shirleen is responsible for collecting water to meet daily water needs. This task stole her time before last year’s water intervention and negatively affected her.

The previous water source.

Drinking the water caused severe consequences. Many in the 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 Shirleen, in particular, it lessened her opportunity to concentrate at school and put time into learning.

"It was always hard for me to get into the spring. There were some stones down there that injured my leg one day. The water was not so clean during those days. "We, as children, were limited to fetching from this water point that only had dirty water," said Shirleen.

"My mum and other adults would go in search of water during the dry season, as we children could be left home to care for our younger [siblings]."

Since the Spring 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 Shirleen’s future. By supporting the water solution, you made clean water an everyday reality, fostering hope for a brighter future.

Shirleen 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 like the easy access, especially the staircase. I no longer fear getting injured. I just place the container and carry it home when it fills up," said Shirleen.

The Future is Looking Bright!

A year ago, you made a difference for Shirleen 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 Shirleen 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 dreams.

"I have been able to concentrate at school knowing that there is enough water at home and I won't miss my mum when I come back home; she will not have gone in search of water. My mum also has enough time to help me with my homework whenever I arrive at home," said Shirleen.

Since Shirleen can attend school regularly and has homework help now, she dreams about the future.

"When I grow up, I want people to call me Teacher Shirleen!"


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 Shinoko 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 Shinoko 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: 300 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Apr 2024

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 03/26/2025

Project Features


Click icons to learn about each feature.



Community Profile

The Shinoko Community, consisting of 300 individuals, faces challenges in obtaining an adequate water supply. Their primary source of water, Shinoko Spring, is unprotected although community members did attempt to protect it in the past without the needed expertise. In its current condition, it poses a serious risk of injury or worse due to a wall looming over the collection point. As a result, collecting water from this source is precarious.

Farmer Tom Masitsa, pictured below farming, shared his experience with the unprotected spring. "The condition of this spring has made me look for well-wishers who can help us to protect it. We tried, but we lacked the technical aspects. This spring never goes dry, but our wives and children suffer. It is difficult to collect water because one has to bend so low to access it. The wall also poses a great risk of accident."

It is extremely difficult and dangerous to collect water at this spring, but that is not the only problem.

Because the spring is not protected, it is open to contamination. Community members must fetch water early in the day because the water becomes more and more contaminated as the day goes on. To reach the spring, people walk through farmland and then step into the water to reach the discharge spout contaminating the water further. In addition, animal and human waste and runoff from the local fields wash directly into the spring whenever it rains, making the matter worse.

"I personally prefer to choose other chores over coming to collect water because I feel it is tiresome. To access water, I have to jump inside and collect water overhead, and in this process, loose soil drop[s] in and make[s] the water dirty. Before the borehole drilling in our school, we could get to school late just wasting time here trying to collect water," shared student Joseph M., shown fetching water below.

The spring protection in their community will ease Tom's concern for his family's safety while collecting water and make it so Joseph and other children are no longer at risk while fetching water for their homes. Protecting the spring will ensure community members have access to sufficient, safe water for years.

The Proposed Solution, Determined Together...

At The Water Project, everyone has a part in conversations and solutions. We operate in transparency, believing it benefits everyone. We expect reliability from one another as well as our water solutions. Everyone involved makes this possible through hard work and dedication.

In a joint discovery process, community members determine their most advantageous water solution alongside our technical experts. Read more specifics about this solution on the What We're Building tab of this project page. Then, community members lend their support by collecting needed construction materials (sometimes for months ahead of time!), providing labor alongside our artisans, sheltering and feeding the builders, and supplying additional resources.

Water Access for Everyone

This water project is one piece in a large puzzle. In Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, we're working toward complete coverage of reliable, maintained water sources that guarantee public access now and in the future within a 30-minute round trip for each community, household, school, and health center. One day, we hope to report that this has been achieved!

Training on Health, Hygiene & More

With the community's input, we've identified topics where training will increase positive health outcomes at personal, household, and community levels. We'll coordinate with them to find the best training date. Some examples of what we train communities on are:

  • Improved hygiene, health, and sanitation habits
  • Safe water handling, storage & treatment
  • Disease prevention and proper handwashing
  • Income-generation
  • Community leadership, governance, & election of a water committee
  • Operation and maintenance of the water point

Chlorine Dispensers

Installing chlorine dispensers is an important piece of our spring protection projects. Protecting a spring provides community members with an improved water source, but it doesn’t prevent contamination once the water is collected and stored. For example, if the water is clean and the container is dirty, the water will become contaminated.

We ensure that each chlorine dispenser is filled with diluted chlorine on a consistent schedule so that people can add pre-measured drops to each container of water they collect. That way, community members can feel even more confident in the quality of their water.

Project Updates


April, 2024: Shinoko Community Spring Protection Complete!

Shinoko 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 save time for other family chores. This will help my children have enough time for studies since it is readily accessible, and this, later on, will boost their grades, enabling them to pursue their dream courses. It will help me have a deep desire [for] farming that will serve [the] household for consumption purposes and also majorly for agribusiness," said 35-year-old farmer Violet Mutenyo.

Violet carrying clean water!

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

9-year-old Samson shared, "It will help me save enough time to play and have fun with my friends. I will also make sure that I maintain good hygiene by taking showers and washing my clothes on time. It will help my parents to fetch water very fast and do other chores on time. It will also help my teachers have enough time to teach and cover the syllabus in time, which will enable the school program to run smoothly."

Samson enjoying the newly protected spring.

"It will help me reach school earlier for morning lessons and preps, which will help me perform well in my exams," Samson continued.

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.

Community members 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 it. These help divert surface contaminants away.

Clearing the site.

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.

Setting the discharge pipe.

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.

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.

Pitching stones.

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.

Plastering the stairs.

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.

Community members planting 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.

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, the facilitators deployed to the site to lead the event. Twenty-eight people attended the training, including 12 women and 16 men.

Soapmaking training.

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.

Handwashing training.

A memorable training topic was personal hygiene. Until this waterpoint was protected, there wasn't enough water for the community members to shower, not even weekly. Now that their spring has been protected, they have the knowledge and water to improve their hygiene.

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!




February, 2024: Shinoko Community Spring Protection Underway!

The lack of adequate water in Shinoko 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

1 individual donor(s)