July, 2020: COVID-19 Prevention Training Update at Lutonyi Community, Shihachi Spring

Our teams are working on the frontlines of the COVID-19 pandemic. Join us in our fight against the virus while maintaining access to clean, reliable water.

Trainer Jacky shows how to build and use a tippy tap handwashing station

We are carrying out awareness and prevention trainings on the virus in every community we serve. Very often, our teams are the first (and only) to bring news and information of the virus to rural communities like Lutonyi, Kenya.

Scrubbing hands thoroughly with soap is essential in fighting the virus

We trained more than 17 people on the symptoms, transmission routes, and prevention of COVID-19. Due to public gathering concerns, we worked with trusted community leaders to gather a select group of community members who would then relay the information learned to the rest of their family and friends.

Handwashing is a lesson for all ages

We covered essential hygiene lessons:

- Demonstrations on how to build a simple handwashing station

- Proper handwashing technique

- The importance of using soap and clean water for handwashing

- Cleaning and disinfecting commonly touched surfaces including at the water point.

Handwashing with soap

We covered COVID-19-specific guidance in line with national and international standards:

- Information on the symptoms and transmission routes of COVID-19

- What social distancing is and how to practice it

- How to cough into an elbow

- Alternative ways to greet people without handshakes, fist bumps, etc.

- How to make and properly wear a facemask.

Handwashing with soap

During training, we installed a new handwashing station with soap near the community’s water point, along with a sign with reminders of what we covered.

Trainers review the prevention reminders chart before installing it at the spring.

Due to the rampant spread of misinformation about COVID-19, we also dedicated time to a question and answer session to help debunk rumors about the disease and provide extra information where needed.

Trainer Jacky leads the homemade mask sewing tutorial

Community member Benson Imbali said that it was hard for people suffering from asthma to wear face masks. The facilitator asked those suffering from asthma to avoid going out as much as possible and advised them not to tie their face masks very tight, but instead allow room around their nose to breathe.

Cough or sneeze into the elbow like this

We continue to stay in touch with this community as the pandemic progresses. We want to ensure their water point remains functional and their community stays informed about the virus.

Reading the informational pamphlet on COVID-19

Water access, sanitation, and hygiene are at the crux of disease prevention. You can directly support our work on the frontlines of COVID-19 prevention in all of the communities we serve while maintaining their access to safe, clean, and reliable water.

November, 2018: A Year Later: Lutonyi Community

A year ago, your generous donation enabled us to protect Shihachi Spring for Lutonyi Community in Kenya. The contributions of incredible monthly donors and others giving directly to The Water Promise allow our local teams to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the water project over time. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories. Read more...

February, 2018: Lutonyi Community Project Complete

Shihachi Spring in Lutonyi Community, Kenya is now a protected, clean source of water thanks to your donation. The spring is protected from contamination, five sanitation platforms have been provided for the community, and training has been given in sanitation and hygiene. Imagine the changes that all of these resources are going to bring for these residents! You made it happen!  Now, want to do a bit more? Join our team of monthly donors and help us maintain this spring protection and many other projects.

We just updated the project page with the latest pictures, so make sure to check them out! And please enjoy the rest of the report from our partner in Kenya:

Project Result: New Knowledge

We spoke with one of the local leaders, Mrs. Violet, as we scheduled hygiene and sanitation training. She went from house to house to invite everyone in Lutonyi to attend. Training was also held at her homestead, which is near the spring. Community members turned out in large numbers, including both men and women who participated enthusiastically in each activity.

Participants received notebooks and pens to record what they learned.

Two of our facilitators covered several topics, including leadership and governance; operation and maintenance of the spring; healthcare; family planning; immunizations; the spread of disease and prevention. We also covered water treatment methods, environmental hygiene, hygiene promotion, and many others.

Demonstrations were some of the most popular parts of the training, with participants enjoying getting their hands involved. We did this with hand-washing, teaching the 10 steps of washing with soap and running water. And since we were already near the spring, we were able to teach about proper spring use, management, and simple maintenance.

Participants were hungry for even more information and asked that we return as soon as we have time for another training.

Project Result: Sanitation Platforms

All five sanitation platforms have been installed and are ready for use. These five families are happy about this milestone and are optimistic that there will be much less open defecation. People without proper latrines would often use the privacy of bushes, but now have a private place of their own. It is expected that proper use of latrine facilities provided by the sanitation platforms will go a long way in reducing environmental pollution here. We are continuing to encourage families to finish building walls and roofs over their new latrine floors.

Project Result: Spring Protection

Community members provided all locally available construction materials, e.g bricks, wheelbarrows of clean sand, wheelbarrows of ballast, fencing poles and hard core (crushed rock and gravel). Accommodation and food for the artisan were provided, and we asked a few people to volunteer their time and strength to help the artisan with manual labor.

Rocks gathered by community members and delivered to the construction site.

The spring area was excavated to create space for setting the foundation of polyethylene, wire mesh and concrete. After the base had been set, both wing walls and the headwall were set in place using brickwork. The discharge pipe was fixed low in place through the head wall to direct the water from the reservoir to the drawing area.

Excavation

As the wing walls and head wall were curing, the stairs were set and the tiles were fixed directly below the discharge pipe. This reduces the erosive force of the falling water and beautifies the spring. The process of plastering the head wall and wing walls on both sides reinforces the brickwork and prevents water from the reservoir from seeping through the walls and allows pressure to build in the collection box to push water up through the discharge pipe.

Lastly, the base of the spring was plastered and the collection box was cleaned. The source area was filled up with clean hardcore and covered with a polyethylene membrane to eliminate any potential sources of contamination. Community members then helped us plant grass and dig cutoff drains to direct surface water away from the spring box.

The artisan backfilling from the spring eye to the discharge pipe.

During the spring construction, a monitor lizard appeared, causing among the community members and artisan. The monitor lizard was killed by Mr. Kiki, one of the fearless community members - It was scaring everybody because it's believed that when it wipes you with its tail, your skin will remain dry forever, even if you apply petroleum jelly. This monitor lizard had also been eating all of the chicks of community members. They knew it was reared by a community member since it had markings and decorations. But Mr. Kiki said that if the owner does not show himself, he will skin it and use that skin to make a drum (isukuti drum).

Mr. Kiki and the scary monitor lizard!

This process has transformed Shihachi Spring into a clean water source. People gathered to celebrate this transformation by fetching their first buckets of clean water. Mrs. Khamalishi said, "We are impressed with the good work. Actually, we had been worriedly consuming this water in fear of contracting waterborne diseases like typhoid, cholera, and diarrhea. We appreciate and may God bless you abundantly so that you reach out to many communities."

October, 2017: Lutonyi Community Project Underway

Lutonyi Community will soon have a clean, safe source of water thanks to your donation. Community members have been drinking contaminated water from Shihachi Spring, and often suffer physical illnesses after doing so. Our partner conducted a survey of the area and deemed it necessary to protect the spring, build new sanitation platforms (safe, easy-to-clean concrete floors for latrines), and conduct sanitation and hygiene training. Thanks to your generosity, waterborne disease will no longer be a challenge for the families drinking the spring’s water. We look forward to sharing more details with you as they come! But for now, please take some time to check out the report containing community information, pictures, and maps.