The small community of Ifwetere is home to 120 individuals who struggle to access safe and sufficient water. Unfortunately, the spring community members rely on to provide this vital resource poses a serious risk to adults and children. This presents a significant challenge for the community, and urgent action is needed to address this critical issue to ensure the health and well-being of the residents.
Field Officer Samuel Samidi shared his experience. "Access to clean water has proven to be a big challenge in the community. This, in return, has led to the emergence of infections related to water. Typhoid, sore throat infection has been on the rise, destabilizing growth in various households as individuals are forced to seek medical attention."
"We are in dire need of a protected spring; it will help us access clean safe water for drinking and other water-related activities. Currently, the stairs and collection point [are] damaged, a risk to its users. On several occasions, I have injured myself in the process of collecting water, forcing me [to] seek medical attention. During this time of [requiring] medication, all my planned activities come to a standstill affecting my financial flow," said farmer Rose M., shown below.
Being in disrepair isn't the water point's only problem. The water coming from the spout is often little more than a trickle because of how the pipe was installed. As the spring's state further degrades, the discharge gets worse. This results in severe overcrowding and long wait times.
"During the drought season, the spring faces congestion; the discharge does reduce due to water escaping from the floor. As a result, I waste valuable time for school at the water point. This has always been the norm in February, March, and part of April. The last time, in April, I was punished by my class teacher for reporting to class 20 minutes late," shared 13-year-old Gabriel A. shown below collecting water.
Protecting the Ifwetere Community spring will provide a safe water source for people like Rose, freeing up her time and resources to focus on bettering her life. Additionally, Gabriel will no longer need to spend hours waiting in line for contaminated water, allowing him to attend school with greater focus and succeed in his future endeavors.
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.