Project Status



Project Type:  Dug Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Western Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 200 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Jun 2016

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 01/31/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

Background Information

The Mang'uliro Community consists of people from the middle class, with most of them working as peasant farmers who grow sugarcane. Sugarcane is this area's main source of income, but farmers also plant short-seasoned crops like maize, beans, sweet potatoes and other vegetables. They also tend beehives. People of this community are God-fearing, worshiping in different churches such as Catholic, Seventh Day Adventist, PEFA and Friends Church Quakers. The people in this community have a certain set of beliefs used as a tool to guide them into harmonious and peaceful living. For instance, some of the beliefs include: Men are primarily responsible for their families. Men should look after livestock and do farm work. Women are responsible for doing household chores and looking after the children. Most of the women in this community have merry-go-rounds and table banking that helps them unite and support each other. The children in this community help their parents at home with chores like fetching water and wood when they're not in school.

The assistant chief of Mang'uliro saw the great need of his community and submitted a water project application to SAWASHI. The well in his community broke down, and he doesn't know any other way to repair it.

The Current Source

Community members are still using the well that broke down. Information about who installed this well and when it was installed is a mystery, but it's obvious that locals did not know how to repair the pump or find the parts to do so. Because of a broken pump, the well pad was broken in to so a rope and bucket could be lowered to fetch the water inside. Having the cover of this well removed opens it to contamination. Dirty rainwater washes back in and garbage is not kept out.

Locals use jerrycans to transport the water back home. Once home, they separate the water into clay pots for drinking and plastic containers for cooking and cleaning. After drinking water from the unprotected well, community members often report illnesses such as typhoid and diarrhea.

Sanitation Situation

Over 75% of households have pit latrines. No open defecation was observed doing the initial visit to Mang'uliro. Almost half of the households have hand-washing stations near their latrines and bathing rooms, but none of these have soap or ash.

Some families dispose of their garbage in compost pits, while others throw it away in surrounding gardens and brush. The community is willing and ready to participate in  upcoming hygiene and sanitation training to learn about how they can improve the health of their people. Housewife Margret Musanga says that, "Most of our homes are trying to observe hygiene and sanitation, but due to lack of proper knowledge, the hygiene is not maintained."

Proposed Solution: Training

Community members are required to fully participate in hygiene and sanitation training. Training will last for three days, and will teach about how to properly fetch, store and treat water, use latrines, wash hands, and prepare and store food.

Two hand-washing stations will be delivered so that the facilitator can demonstrate their use. These stations will then be given to the community for their personal use. The facilitator will use the PHAST (Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Training) method to teach the above topics and more.

Well Rehabilitation

The well has sufficient water to carry the community through all four seasons. The well currently has no well pad and no pump, so a new well pad and Afridev pump will be installed.

Before the community can benefit from this well, they will be required to form a water user committee that will oversee operation and maintenance.

Project Results

Training

The training was held in the home of one of the the community members. The training was planned based on the specific training needs identified during the baseline study in the community. The participants were selected from each beneficiary household where at least one member from each household was to attend.

The meeting was attended by both men and women from the community. The attendance was average where most households set to benefit had a representative. There were more women than men in the training sessions. The community members actively participated in the training exercise by asking and answering questions.

Topics covered in the training sessions included:

  • Relationship between the community and the development organization
  • Identify the common diseases in the community, the seasons in which they occur and their causes
  • Analyze the problem
  • Differentiate between good and bad hygiene practices
  • Disease transmission routes
  • Identification of solutions

Training methods included group discussions, demonstrations, and opportunities for questions and answers.

From the training, the community members set targets that they will be working to achieve. These include opening of a bank account by the management committee, ensuring every home will have sanitation facilities, and ensuring that the water point is secure. The training was a success since the community members present all agreed to behavior change.

"Ignorance and attitude is the disease in this community. With the training will put the knowledge in practice to avoid treatment cost of typhoid," said Timina Museche, a female farmer in the community.

Well Rehabilitation

The existing well had a worn out well pad. The construction work begun by scrabbling of the old surface of the existing well pad leaving exposed bricks that were used previously. The cover of the shallow well was then removed giving room for leveling of the broken top- edges of the culvert lining that allowed runoff water to flow into the well. This was followed by plastering the pad by applying a mixture of cement and sand. The finishing of the well pad was done by lining the plastered well pad with a coat cement mixed with waterproof cement. This was then left to dry for several days.

The well development (flushing) was done through airlifting by a compressor on site to clean the well. Test pumping of this well was conducted using a submersible pump. Constant rate test was used where pumping was done at a constant discharge over a period of time.

Pump installation was done by fitting an Afridev pump base. This was followed by installing the riser main PVC pipes fitted with a cylinder at the bottom end. These were then fitted with anchor ropes and lowered into the well to the desired depth and later tied onto the steel plate on the pump head. Rods were fitted with a plunger at the bottom end and lowered, handle placed and cover fitted onto the pump head.

The community contributed sand used during the pad construction. They provided tools used in the process, such as a wheelbarrow. The community also contributed by preparing meals for the construction team during the construction process. A major challenge during this project was the weather as it impacted logistics and construction.

Benjamin Molenje, a local farmer said, "We appreciate for the implementation of the project. We will put in practice the knowledge of proper hygiene and sanitation so that we can improve our hygiene status to avoid waterborne diseases such diarrhea, cholera and typhoid. The management committee will be in charge of the maintenance and operation of our water project."

The community elected their leaders (Water User Committee) who are in charge of ensuring the operation and maintenance of the project. The community agreed among themselves to be contributing towards the sustainability of the project. SAWASHI will be directly involved in the monitoring, repair of the project through our Operations and Maintenance team.

Handing Over

The community came together on the handing over day. SAWASHI  joined as an organization and commissioned the project officially and handed it over to the management committee of the project to oversee its operation and maintenance. Leaders from our organization gave a brief talk to the members gathered around. Representatives from the community gave a vote of thanks and expressed the community members' joy.

The rehabilitation of this well is of great importance to the community. A majority of the community members were suffering from typhoid because of the poor hygiene practices. The pump will reduce time of fetching water and risk of contracting waterborne disease caused by the method drawing and handling water.

Thank you to all who made this project possible. Thank you for unlocking potential!

Project Updates


December, 2017: A Year Later: Mang'uliro Community

A year ago, generous donors helped rehabilitate a well with the Mang'uliro Community in Western Kenya. Because of these gifts and contributions from our monthly donors, partners can visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the actual water project. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – we’re excited to share this one from our partner, Paul Weringa, with you.




Project Photos


Project Type

Hand-dug wells have been an important source of water throughout human history! Now, we have so many different types of water sources, but hand-dug wells still have their place. Hand dug wells are not as deep as borehole wells, and work best in areas where there is a ready supply of water just under the surface of the ground, such as next to a mature sand dam. Our artisans dig down through the layers of the ground and then line the hole with bricks, stone, or concrete, which prevent contamination and collapse. Then, back up at surface level, we install a well platform and a hand pump so people can draw up the water easily.


A Year Later: Mang'uliro Community

December, 2017

The back pains we used to experience are no longer a problem. The pump makes this possible, and there are no more waterborne disease outbreaks. We wash, bathe, and even water our livestock every day because water is within our reach.

Keeping The Water Promise

There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Mang'uliro Community.

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Mang'uliro Community maintain access to safe, reliable water. Together, they keep The Water Promise.

We’re confident you'll love joining this world-changing group committed to sustainability!

A year ago, generous donors helped rehabilitate a well with the Mang'uliro Community in Western Kenya. Because of these gifts and contributions from our monthly donors, partners can visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the actual water project. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – we’re excited to share this one from our partner, Paul Weringa, with you.


Clean water is now easily accessible for people living in Mang'uliro. Women no longer strain to hoist buckets full of dirty water up and out of an open hole in the ground. Thanks to the rehabilitation of this water point, there is now a well pad that protects the water and an AfriDev pump that makes it easily accessible. Women no longer suffer from constant back and chest pains, while the entire community is relieved from waterborne disease.

So much money had been used to treat these diseases that could just be avoided with clean water. Now, that money and time can be invested in other activities like farming.


We met Timina Buchete Musichi at the well, who told us all about these changes. She said, "The back pains we used to experience are no longer a problem. The pump makes this possible, and there are no more waterborne disease outbreaks. We wash, bathe, and even water our livestock every day because water is within our reach."

Mrs. Musichi and her son

However, we also asked Mrs. Musichi about some of the challenges she's still facing. She said that when the pump breaks, the rest of "the community is not willing to pay for maintenance costs."


People here have the idea that water should be free, but the well is really providing a service that needs to be maintained to ensure sustainability. Our team continues to engage with them on this through our quarterly monitoring visits and other trainings.

The Water Project and our partners are committed to consistent monitoring of each water source. Our monitoring and evaluation program, made possible by monthly donors, allows us to visit communities up to 4 times a year. Read more about our program and how you can help.


Navigating through intense dry spells, performing preventative maintenance, conducting quality repairs when needed and continuing to assist community leaders to manage water points are all normal parts of keeping projects sustainable. The Water Promise community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Mang'uliro Community maintain access to safe, reliable water.

We’d love for you to join this world-changing group committed to sustainability.

The most impactful way to continue your support of Mang'uliro Community – and hundreds of other places just like this – is by joining our community of monthly givers.

Your monthly giving will help provide clean water, every month... keeping The Water Promise.


Contributors

John-Robin Halvorson, Doug Schlosser, Mike and Carrie Hirst
Ferrigno Parents
Joe and Shirley Glascock
TYG
Briggs
55 individual donor(s)