Project Status



Project Type:  Well Rehab

Program: Well Rehab in Kenya

Impact: 449 Served

Project Phase:  Decommissioned

Project Features


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Community Profile

This project is part of Bridge Water Project's program in Western Kenya. What follows is direct from them:

BACKGROUND

The proposed St. Emmanuel Kapngetuny A.C.K water project Rehabilitation is a church water project done in 1998 by the help of Christian Health Association of Kenya (CHAK) under the WASH programme led from the U.K.

This is a shallow hand dug well with a total depth 52 ft. constructed by locally burnt bricks leaving an open reserve of 1-meter diameter, static water level is 10ft and records a turbidity value of 5 (WHO) recommendation.

The well was installed with a unique pump, which served from 1998 till 2007 when it broke down due from wear and tare.

The church council through their interaction with CHRIST THE KING MOGOYWET A.C.K. learnt of BWP development activities in the region and made an application to Bridge water project requesting for assistance to clean up their failed shallow well and install an Affridev pump so as to enable the church access water from the well for their domestic use.

CURRENT WATER SOURCE

Currently the church gets water from gravity piped water from Kipkaren Township Water project. The dam is located 1.5km away from the church compound. The gravity water is managed by Kapng’etuny community Self Help Group. The water is turbid and doesn’t go through any treatment before being released to the community hence being good only for animals to drink and irrigation purposes. During the dry spell, the gravity water level goes down and it fails to flow as it should. The water is highly contaminated from animals and human activities around i.e. washing, bathing and watering the domestic livestock hence lowering its quality for human consumption. Since the dam is within the indigenous forest, there’s a lot of leaves dropping from the trees and covering the surface of the water making it unsafe for human consumption. The church therefore whenever they need water for drinking they have to hire a motorbike or a donkey to go for as 1 ½ km to Mogoywet A.C.K to fetch water from the drilled borehole that BWP drilled recently.

POPULATION

The church has a population of 320 worshipers who usually come for Sunday services and are also community members. The church being at the center of Kipkaren Salient market attracts other water users who usually work for various business organizations in the surround area which all add up to a total population of 449 people.

HYGIENE AND SANITATION

There is a vicarage house, which is kept clean and there is a utensil rack outside the kitchen. The church has four latrines, two for the women and two for the men. The latrines are kept clean at all times. The church also has a compost pit where all litter is dumped. There are no hand-washing stations present in the church compound.

BENEFICIARIES

If the shallow well is rehabilitated the St Emmanuel Kapng’etuny A.C.K members, Kipkaren Salient Market residents, and staff of surrounding businesses, who board nearby and who do not have any access to potable water, will also benefit if the water source is rehabilitated.

WATER COMMITTEE

Through the intervention of Bridge Water Project, the church will come up with a water committee before the implementation of the project.

Project Updates


March, 2024: Project Change at St. Emmanuel Kapng'etuny Church!

Projects, like water itself, are fluid.

Sometimes, there are unique circumstances that can neither be resolved nor reversed that turn a well-loved water point into one that has failed to meet the expectations of both the community it serves and our own commitment to help provide access to safe and reliable water.

Unfortunately, this well is no longer meeting the water needs of the St. Emmanuel Kapng'etuny Church Community, despite repeated efforts, spent resources, and a lot of patience from the community and our team.

The Water Project, the community members, and local leaders have decided together that decommissioning the well was the best course of action. As a result, we will no longer make monitoring visits here.




Project Photos


Project Type

Well rehabilitation is one of the most cost effective ways to bring clean, safe water to a community.  Sometimes it involves fixing a broken hand pump, other times it means sealing a hand dug well to prevent it from being contaminated.  These repairs, and often time total replacements, coupled with sanitation and hygiene training make a huge impact in communities.


Contributors

Paul and Caryn Koenig
Marcia and Philip Rothblum Foundation, Inc.
Northeast Elementary School