July, 2020: COVID-19 Prevention Training Update at Emusanda Community, Walusia 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 Kayi distributes informational pamphlets on COVID-19 during training

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 Emusanda, Kenya.

Trainer Jacky emphasizes soap in handwashing to help fight the virus.

We trained more than 13 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 demonstration

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 demonstration

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 demonstration

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.

Homemade mask tutorial

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.

Social distancing check

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.

December, 2018: A Year Later: Emusanda Community, Walusai Spring

A year ago, your generous donation enabled us to protect Walusai Spring for Emusanda 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...

January, 2018: Emusanda Community Project Complete

Walusia Spring in Emusanda 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

The village elder, Mrs. Omumia, worked hard with our training officer to prepare for training. They agreed on specific days best for the community, and then the village elder went house to house inviting people to attend. She also wrote a notice and pinned it to a tree at the spring to remind the community members as they fetched water on a daily basis. Mrs. Omumia also agreed to host training at her homestead, since it's got a lot of good ground and shade for people to sit comfortably.

There was a total of 19 participants, most of which were women. This is because women are traditionally seen as those most responsible for water, hygiene and sanitation for their families. These women all promised to not only share what they learned with their husbands (convincing them that yes, this information is applicable to them too) but share healthy practices with their neighbors who didn't attend.

We 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. Since we were near the spring, we could run through hands-on management and maintenance demonstrations.

Walking to the spring from Mrs. Omumia's homestead.

We spent an entire session on hand-washing and its importance. When, how, and why should one wash their hands? We also taught participants how to construct their own hand-washing stations with local and affordable materials.

As we visited the community throughout the construction process, we visited households to check their uptake of hygiene and sanitation practices. There was an increase in latrines, dish racks, and bathing shelters. Some households had dug deep garbage pits, and many women had begun practicing kitchen gardening which will yield good vegetables for their families' meals.

Beatrice Machembe said, "I want to thank you so much for bringing us power through knowledge. What you have taught us is not something we could get easily unless we went for a seminar or payed some amount to go to a school to get this information. The general hygiene practices you have taught us will help us reduce costs, for when we follow the teaching we will be safe, and so we are very grateful."

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.

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.

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.

Throughout this process, there was a young man who was particularly interested in the artisan's work. This boy dropped out of school and currently has no work, and he realized this is something he could do with his life. The artisan was patient and worked alongside the boy to teach him some of the techniques used in brick and concrete work.

All this has transformed Walusia Spring into a flowing, clean water source. People arrived right away to fetch their first jerrycans of that clean water. There were smiles all around! 36-year-old Christine Andega said, "You have really done me and my family well. I have been spending most of the time in the hospital treating my children from typhoid which came as a result of dirty water, but now I am a happy mother for I will use this money to boost their nutrition and also do other development work."

November, 2017: Emusanda Community Project Underway

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