Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Program: Wells for Schools - Kenya

Impact: 450 Served

Project Phase: 
Community Managed
Implementing Partner Monitoring Data Unavailable
Initial Installation: Feb 2011

Project Features


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Community Profile

Our implementing partner received this request for a new well in Kenya... (edited for clarity)

"We humbly request your esteemed establishment to consider supporting our school to get a developed well.

St. Angela Mumias Secondary Vocational School for Deaf Girls was founded by the Ursline Sisters of Netherlands in 1970 with an initial population of 5 deaf Girls pursuing vocational skills training.  The institution is strategically located in Mumias Municipality; adjacent to St. Mary’s Mumias Mission Hospital along the Kakamega-Bungoma Highway. The school hosts students from East and Central Africa thus; Kenya, Uganda, Tanzania, Sudan, Somali and Mozambique.

The school got its legal mandate in 1975. A deaf-blind unit was added on the establishment in 1995. The secondary section was started in 1997. A technical training wing was later introduced in the year 2006. The school currently commands a population of 350 Students projected to be 450 by the year 2012. St. Angela Mumias Secondary Vocational for Deaf Girls has a teaching staff of 39 teachers and 28 support Staff.

Despite the early initiative of constructing classrooms and hostels, the initial sponsors missed the important need for an independent water source for the school in their plans. The water at the time of construction was under the ministry of water that had lower billing rates with adequate supply. Since then, the management of water resource was privatized and moved to Western Water Company. This culminated into hikes in water bills.

Failure by this same company to pay their electricity bills prompts Kenya Power and Lighting Company to disconnect power causing disruptions of water flow subjecting the school to lack of adequate water and utter lack of water during the dry spells.

The Deaf and Deaf Blind Girls have been subjected to a situation that compels them to fetch water from a stream. It is possible, as has been the case, that students get infected with typhoid prompting unexpected expenditure on treatment from their ill-resourced parents/guardians.

Also, from experience, the Deaf and Deaf Blind Girls are harassed by men and young boys who attempt to compromise and coerce them into sexual actions when they fetch this water. The fear of dogs enroute the water source makes the girls feel more vulnerable and insecure. At one time a girl was engaged by a harsh dog, chased and while getting to escape, she crashed into a glass dormitory door and received severe cuts.

We hope that if the well is developed, it will benefit our neighboring institutions that suffer the same problem of water scarcity such as St. Anne’s Mumias Girls Primary boarding School and St. Martin’s primary School for the Deaf Pupils."

The Project:

Funded by SodaStream, this well will serve the entire school and surrounding community.  Construction is underway.

We're just getting started, check back soon!


Project Photos


Project Type

Abundant water is often right under our feet! Beneath the Earth’s surface, rivers called aquifers flow through layers of sediment and rock, providing a constant supply of safe water. For borehole wells, we drill deep into the earth, allowing us to access this water which is naturally filtered and protected from sources of contamination at the surface level. First, we decide where to drill by surveying the area and determining where aquifers are likely to sit. To reach the underground water, our drill rigs plunge through meters (sometimes even hundreds of meters!) of soil, silt, rock, and more. Once the drill finds water, we build a well platform and attach a hand pump. If all goes as planned, the community is left with a safe, closed water source providing around five gallons of water per minute! Learn more here!