Clean water for 917 households Kenya

Thank you for supporting this project to ensure access to clean water for families at home and children at school.  In our last report, communities were anxiously awaiting rainfall and you will be happy to hear that the rains finally arrived in April and crops could be planted. This is later than expected.

Work on the Lamaiyat spring protection we wrote about in our last report has continued with construction and masonry work progressing.  Earlier this month photographs show progress during a visit to the site from Irish and UK visitors.  The area has been cleared of vegetation and materials have arrived on site.  The area around the water spring has been dug and walls constructed around it.  A special type of hardcore has been put in place which is a mixture of sizes and will help to filter the water and won’t absorb it.  Next steps are to plaster the walls, return the soil to the area, plumb and build the collection points in place where the community can come to collect water from taps.

To mark World Environment day on June 5^th, the Lamaiyat community group planted trees at the water spring with the visitors.  Trees play a vital part in protecting the water source.  Without trees, rainwater runs off too quickly, eroding fertile soil and creating mud streams that contaminate the water sources.

The role of the community group is very important to the success of the overall project.  This group are involved from the very beginning and are part of the planning, promotion and construction.  The community share the costs with Brighter Communities Worldwide by way of finance and labour.  They will take ownership of managing the spring protection when it is completed and in the future will work on further plans to extend access to more people in the community.

This spring protection will benefit 520 people and will also be improved to benefit the nearby schools, Kebenti Primary and Secondary in the future.  The schools population is 598 girls and 912 boys.