{"id":246622,"date":"2025-09-10T09:40:03","date_gmt":"2025-09-10T13:40:03","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/?p=246622"},"modified":"2025-09-10T09:40:03","modified_gmt":"2025-09-10T13:40:03","slug":"nine-years-of-safe-water-almost-washed-away-until-help-arrived","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/2025\/09\/10\/nine-years-of-safe-water-almost-washed-away-until-help-arrived\/","title":{"rendered":"Nine Years of Safe Water Almost Washed Away \u2014 Until Help Arrived"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The Break<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Back in July, cracks opened in the wall of a protected spring in Elufafwa<\/a> Community, Kenya.<\/p>\n\n\n

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The cracks in the wing wall of the spring in Elufafwa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

When 30-year-old Brenda Nelisha saw the damage, her heart sank. Every day, she used that spring to provide her family with safe drinking water. Now, what would happen?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI was very worried,\u201d Brenda said.\u00a0<\/p>\n\n\n\n

That worry reminded Brenda of nine years before. Life had been much tougher then.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI used to collect water from a scoop hole<\/a> that we had dug,\u201d Brenda said. \u201cThe place was always overcrowded, untidy, and the quality of water was a major challenge because we shared it with domestic animals, like dogs and cattle.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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From 2016: a community member scoops water up from the scoop hole in Elufafwa.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The protected spring<\/a> structure had faithfully served her community since The Water Project installed it in July 2016. It improved the quality of her drinking water, and the stairs made access easier, especially in slippery wet seasons. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brenda remembered spending long minutes waiting in line for her turn to fetch water at the old scoop hole as her neighbors scooped water up from the ground one jugful at a time. She remembered filling her jug so carefully in hopes of avoiding sediment and algae in her drinking glass while impatient neighbors stared holes into her back.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Now, life was different. Those nine years since The Water Project installed a protected spring in Elufafwa had gifted Brenda with four beautiful children.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI could not imagine my young children getting exposed to contaminated water,\u201d Brenda said. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

The Repair<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

So, what exactly had happened to Brenda\u2019s spring?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cA field officer identified a major crack in the spring wall during a quarterly monitoring visit in July,\u201d explained our Director of Monitoring, Evaluation, Resolution, and Learning Allison Gregory. \u201cThe crack was severe enough to threaten the wall’s structural integrity, so the officer opened an mWater<\/a> issue survey, and scheduled a repair visit.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

During the few days between the discovery of the crack and our artisans\u2019 repair, Brenda made do. Water was still flowing from the spring\u2019s discharge pipe, so she didn\u2019t have to bend and scoop up water over and over. But she did have to make unwelcome adjustments to ensure her family\u2019s good health and ease her own mind.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cMy children are still young and vulnerable,\u201d Brenda explained. \u201cEven though we have a chlorine dispenser, I\u2019ve had to boil drinking water just to be sure that its quality has not been compromised. I never want to gamble with the health of my children! Boiling requires extra firewood and also consumes time that would have been spent doing something else.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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From 2016: a community member’s kitchen in Elufafwa Community. Brenda would have had to build a fire whenever she wanted to boil the spring’s water and kill any waterborne pathogens.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Also during that interim period, Brenda\u2019s fellow community members helped the incoming construction artisans by collecting locally available construction materials like sand and bringing them to the spring. The reason for this is twofold: it helps keep our costs of repairs down and reinforces the community\u2019s sense of ownership<\/a> for their own water point.<\/p>\n\n\n

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A community member hands our construction artisan stones to help with the repair work.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

When the day of the repair finally arrived, our construction artisan cleared the site of any encroaching vegetation. Then, he extended the length of the discharge pipe out past where he would be working so community members could still fetch water during the repair. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

Once the prep work was done, it was time to tackle that crack in the wall.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cOur skilled artisan used cement to patch the crack, ensuring that the wall remains standing,\u201d Allison said. \u201cHe also addressed some minor damage to the walls, collection area, stairwell, and stone pitching: the kind of wear and tear that we commonly see on older springs.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Our artisan repairs the spring.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

The repair itself took time, and then the waterproof cement needed time to dry and cure. But soon, everything was ready, and it was time to remove all the repair provisions and reveal the newly repaired spring to the community members.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf you had not shown up to repair this water point, the broken wing wall and head wall would have completely collapsed, resulting in seriously compromised water quality,\u201d Brenda said.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Allison echoed Brenda\u2019s concern, showing how important it was that we caught this issue early before it could further damage such a valued water point.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIf the spring had not been repaired, the crack could have led to the collapse of the spring wall, which would certainly have had implications for water access,\u201d Allison said. \u201cA well-maintained spring can serve communities like Elufafwa for many years, making these repair visits essential to ensuring long-term water access.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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The repaired, structurally sound spring with safe water flowing.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

The Return of Safe Water for Brenda and Her Family<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

With the spring back in working order, it meant Brenda could stop sourcing extra firewood and boiling every container of drinking water, and get back to her everyday routine. We were honored that she took our field officers around her compound for a tour to show us all the ways she uses water to keep her household running.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

For Brenda, the relief was palpable.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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Brenda smiles as she fetches water from the newly repaired spring.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cIt is such an honor to know that there are people out there who genuinely care about my community so much so as to ensure our water point is working optimally,\u201d Brenda shared. \u201cFor context, I would like to let you know that there is a well at the nearby primary school, but the pump keeps breaking down because nobody monitors it.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Brenda has witnessed what happens when people build a water point, dust off their hands, and walk away patting themselves on the back for a job well done. But we at The Water Project are proud to say that, no matter how many years have passed since we\u2019ve installed a water source, keeping safe water flowing for people like Brenda is always our top priority.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

People like you are the ones who help us maintain and repair vital water sources like Brenda\u2019s. Anyone who donates<\/a> to our Water Promise program<\/a> funds life-saving work like maintenance, repairs, water quality testing, and continuous research into how we can improve for future projects \u2014 and future generations.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cI will probably never meet any of the people who contribute money to ensure myself, my children, and my neighbors have access to a fully functional water point,\u201d Brenda said. \u201cNevertheless, it makes me feel special and want to meet these people just to pass my gratitude to them.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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\"This<\/figure>\n\n\n\n
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Brenda uses water from the repaired spring to wash dishes and give her cow water.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n\n\n\n

\u201cTo every donor and well-wisher out there who has given their money, no matter how little, to ensure my community and others get safe, clean and reliable water, just keep doing what you are doing,\u201d Brenda concluded. \u201cYou have transformed many lives for the better, and you truly are appreciated for the great job you\u2019re doing. Maybe someday I\u2019ll get the opportunity to appreciate you in the African way.\u201d<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"

Back in July, cracks opened in the wall of a protected spring in Elufafwa Community, Kenya.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":34448,"featured_media":246629,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"_acf_changed":false,"footnotes":""},"categories":[58,187,199],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-246622","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-from-the-field","category-water-and-health","category-western-kenya"],"acf":[],"aioseo_notices":[],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246622","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/34448"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=246622"}],"version-history":[{"count":6,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246622\/revisions"}],"predecessor-version":[{"id":246717,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/246622\/revisions\/246717"}],"wp:featuredmedia":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media\/246629"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=246622"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=246622"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=246622"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}