July, 2020: COVID-19 Prevention Training Update at Mukhuyu Community, Shikhanga 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 Patience demonstrates handwashing

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 Mukhuyu, Kenya.

We trained more than 11 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.

Everyone practices the 10 steps of handwashing

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

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.

Sewing masks

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.

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.

Fitting a mask to an elderly woman

"The participants were surprised to learn that face masks could be made at home in a very simple way with old pieces of clothes. The village elder encouraged them to do [the prevention steps] just like the training officers had advised them - for example, washing hands frequently, maintaining 2-meters social distance, and putting on face masks whenever they go to any public place and more so when going to fetch water at the spring," recalled Trainer Patience Njeri.

Kids pose with the installed prevention reminders chart at the spring

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.

Cough and sneeze using the elbow

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.

July, 2020: COVID-19 Prevention Training Update at Mukhuyu Community, Shikhanga 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 Patience demonstrates handwashing

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 Mukhuyu, Kenya.

We trained more than 11 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.

Everyone practices the 10 steps of handwashing

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

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.

Sewing masks

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.

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.

Fitting a mask to an elderly woman

"The participants were surprised to learn that face masks could be made at home in a very simple way with old pieces of clothes. The village elder encouraged them to do [the prevention steps] just like the training officers had advised them - for example, washing hands frequently, maintaining 2-meters social distance, and putting on face masks whenever they go to any public place and more so when going to fetch water at the spring," recalled Trainer Patience Njeri.

Kids pose with the installed prevention reminders chart at the spring

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.

Cough and sneeze using the elbow

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: Mukhuyu Community

A year ago, your generous donation enabled us to protect Shikhanga Spring for Mukhuyu 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...

November, 2017: Mukhuyu Community Project Complete

Shikhanga Spring in Mukhuyu 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 called a community leader, Celina, to arrange hygiene and sanitation training. She also went house to house inviting everyone to attend. Since Mukhuyu is such a religious community, we scheduled training during the weekdays because they spend the majority of the weekend at worship events.

Mr. Charles Shikhanga hosted the training at his home, since he lives closest to the spring. Training was attended by a total of 16 community members; of which five were male and 11 were female. There tends to be more women at trainings, since women are looked to as most responsible for water, sanitation and hygiene at the household level.

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 by the spring, we were able to teach about proper spring use, management, and simple maintenance.

Community members learning about how spring protection works and how to best care for it.

Mr. Pius Lukulu said "I am very grateful for taking your time to teach us many issues that we have been taking lightly. It's like you have lit a candle, and now the candle is to keep on lighting."

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.

Beneficiaries stand on their solid sanitation platform. They will build walls and a roof over the next days.

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 a few people even volunteered their time and strength to help the artisan with manual labor.

A man delivers bricks 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.

Building up the wall with bricks that will later be plastered with cement.

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.

There was a slight challenge with a disagreement between two of the closest landowners. One of the men refused to have stairs built on the right side of the spring since he claimed it was too close to his property, even though it was the most convenient side for stair construction. To appease that man, the artisan had to excavate into a hill to build the stairs on the opposite side. We're grateful for our staff who mitigated this issue, and for our hardworking artisan.

This process has transformed Shikhanga Spring into a clean water source. People gathered to celebrate this transformation and fetch their first buckets of clean water. Mrs. Judith Mukovi is a primary teacher at a local school who joined other members of her community to celebrate. "I lack words to express my happiness. The outward appearance of the spring itself shows that indeed we are accessing clean water, unlike before where you could find maize combs and sugarcane pieces on top of the water source, indicating contamination." Mukhungu Community is filled with hope as they look to a healthier future that allows them to accomplish more than they ever have.

October, 2017: Mukhuyu Community Project Underway

Mukhuyu Community will soon have a clean, safe source of water thanks to your donation. Community members have been drinking contaminated water from Shikhanga 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.