Back to the Beginning: Water Committees

Angelina, a CHW (Community Health Worker) in Mumbaya village, shows off their hand pump, currently in disrepair.

With the stark differences in culture and work environment, it has been surprising to see my experience in Kenya shift closer and closer to the one I had in Mali. Most recently, I have seen the needs of the community bring my work back to where I started with the Peace Corps: water.

New Drinking Water Sources

Back when I was traveling throughout our district to get to know the community and their major challenges, I documented several areas where access to clean water is problematic. Early last month I met with Pascale, the local Ministry of Water official who oversees new project planning, to discuss these areas and how best we can assist them. Due to my short time left in Bunyala, I felt that the best thing I could do was to inform the government of such areas and link the communities with the resources required to improve their situation.

In the village of Sisenye, I had noticed a large segment of the population in a particular neighborhood must walk long distances to fetch dirty water from the lake. Pascale informed me that the ministry is currently working on a piped-water scheme nearby, but in our discussion, we found that there were no plans of extending the line to this particular area. He said that during other extension work planned during the next fiscal year beginning this July, he will add a distribution line to serve this area.

Within a couple areas I identified, such as Bukoma, projects are currently underway to address their needs. But at other currently-unserved coastal communities, specifically the heavily-trafficked fishing ports of Namabusi and Mabinju Beaches, he promised to look into new pump projects to provide clean sources of water.

I also discussed needs at three specific schools, all next to or within the Yala Swamp. I first described the pump at Bubamba Primary School, a school within the swamp where I am currently working to begin a school lunch program. This Afridev pump is actually in great condition, but the NGO responsible neglected to install culverts within the well, which allowed the system to sink due to the weak soil and fail.

Pascale said that once a pump is built, maintenance and rehabilitation are generally left to the school itself. I explained to him the lack of options available to the school, and how the children are currently suffering from a lack of clean drinking water. With my advice, he agreed to add this as a 'new' project so that it can be funded through his office in the next fiscal year.

The community of Buongo and its primary school, the other target of my school lunch initiative, were also at one time served by an NGO-installed hand pump, but the pump used was of such poor quality that within a short couple of years, it fell into disrepair and is now heavily corroded. I suggested that because of the condition of this pump, it would be best to start anew and construct a new pump. Especially due to the school children, Pascale agreed with me that the need is great, and therefore a new pump for Buongo will be added to the next fiscal year as well.

In Buongo, I was shocked to find that World Vision installed this pump in 2006. It was only operational for a few short years, and shows an incredible amount of ware for it's age.

He also agreed to fund repair of the broken hand pump at Budala Primary School in Rukala.

Committee Formation and Community Mobilization

Beyond assisting the ministry in identifying new projects, I wanted to offer my assistance in working with local communities to form strong water committees to oversee the operation of their pumps, especially considering my success in Mali. Martin Nyagaya, another Ministry of Water official, is in charge of their community outreach and capacity building initiatives. Through both classroom and field training, he works to register local committees and teach them both management and technical skills required to ensure project sustainability.

Martin accepted my offer to assist him in training these groups, especially in following up with them in the field to make sure that they put their newly-learned skills to use. We are currently waiting for the government to approve funding to begin the next round of training. But in the meantime, I have found myself working with two communities in particular who sought out my assistance.

Throughout my service, I have been working with Charles, a CHEW (Community Health Extension Worker) who oversees CHWs (Community Health Workers) within Budalang'i, Mudembi, and Ruambwa sub-locations. In early April, I attended a meeting with the CHWs in Budalang'i sub-location, during which I offered to assist them in any way I can. Godfrey Wandera, a CHW for his village of Bulagu, immediately sought me after the meeting to discuss the pump in his community.

Godfrey described how the pump is broken and in need of repair. I asked if they have a functioning water committee. He acknowledged no, it failed long ago. So I agreed to meet with his community to discuss their options, and invited Martin from the ministry along with me.

A community meeting by the hand pump in Bulagu village to form the 'Bulagu Water Users' Self Help Group'.

Godfrey is a very motivated man, voluntarily engaging himself in a variety of tasks to serve his community. When Martin and I came out to the site, we found that the pump was actually operational, but only because Martin had come up with a creative solution to the problem. Due to worn-down threads, the pipes of the pump had fallen into the well. He used rope to rig the system together, but unfortunately his makeshift repairs only last for a week at a time before the pipes fall back in.

The problem is that this type of pump is no longer used in Kenya, so spare parts are not available for purchase. And the government has not allocated funds to replace these pumps. But Martin remembered that they had replaced four such pumps nearby in the past. He offered to salvage the required parts from these old pumps so that we can repair this pump.

The community was pleased to hear this, but as a precondition, they must actually form and register their own committee to properly manage the water point. Over the course of four meetings, I met with Godfrey and his community to nominate members to the new committee, ensuring balanced representation and diversity, choose bylaws to govern the operation and oversight of the pump, including a monthly charge to each household, and develop a constitution to register the group, as 'Bulagu Water Users' Self Help Group', with the government.

It was difficult to get a significant amount of the community assembled at once to elect members. But once the committee members were nominated, they were readily available to begin to work on the specifics. These specific steps are much different than they were in Mali, due to literacy, education, and government involvement. Instead of verbal agreements and chicken-scratch markings in a notebook, we are talking about typed, official documents.

This formal registration will, amongst other perks, give the group legal recognition, avail government services to them, and allow them to seek direct assistance in the future in obtaining a new, quality pump.

Later on, Angelina, the CHW from the village of Mumbaya and the 'Mama' of my good friend Lawrence, approached me to ask for my assistance with regard to their pump. It is of the same type as that in Bulagu, and is currently functional. But outside of the rainy season, the well goes dry necessitating that the local people access drinking water from a pump further away, outside of their community.

A community meeting to decide upon bylaws to govern water use and discuss registration of the 'Mumbaya A Water Users' Self Help Group'.

I met with the community twice over the past week to discuss their problem. Unlike Bulagu, they actually do have a functioning water committee. But due to the issues of the well going dry, they aren't able to reliably collect revenue. Unlike Bulagu, for both meetings, the community made a solid showing. They showed themselves to be ready and willing to work together to improve their situation.

I assisted them in improving representation of all locations within the membership of their committee, in choosing and documenting formal, updated by-laws, as well as beginning the process of drawing up a group constitution to formally register the 'Mumbaya A Water Users' Self Help Group' with the government.

I am working with Martin to procure an additional pipe to deepen the well in order to help ensure a steady supply of water year-round. The community had agreed that they can come up with funds to pay a 'fundi' (craftsman) to remove the concrete slab and excavate the well.

While holding our last meeting, one man in attendance raised a good point. They would also need an additional culvert to reinforce the deepened well to prevent the whole system from sinking. I called Martin for advice. There is nothing they as the ministry can do, and the work would be quite expensive. Not only is the construction of a culvert be expensive, but also transport and installation of the culvert into the well would bring the cost to well over 10,000 shillings.

Once I got off the phone and explained the situation, the community seemed rather demoralized. They currently have very little money in their account. I asked, 'so you had said you'd pay for digging, approximately 1,000 shillings. Where was that going to come from?' They replied, 'we'd pay it ourselves.' I asked 'the committee itself, or by collecting money from each household?' They replied the latter. I asked how many households would fetch water at this well if it functions year-round, then did a rough calculation. They complained that even spread amongst 50 or 100 households, it would be alot of money.

I explained that there is no easy road. No NGO will come in and do it for them. It must be their community. If they want water, they must do the work themselves. No one else. It will be more money than what they expected, but the path is the same. I told them that if they do it together, share the burden, it is very possible. I know they can do it. And when they do it, without outside assistance, they can look back at their work with pride, know that they can accomplish big things themselves, into the future. It will mean a lot.

Talk about a case of déjà vu. The language might have been different, swahili verses bambara, but that is just about the same speech I had given to my friends in Mali when I worked to convince them about the importance of them raising funds for their well project within the community. I felt the passion and energy build inside of me.

So I asked, how do we move forward? They replied that they will do it, they will collect money from each household. They said that while I am at my Close of Service Conference this week, they will call a 'fundi' out to the site to obtain a cost estimate for the work. When I return, we'll hold a meeting to determine how much money must be raised per household and chart the way forward.

I love this work more than I can explain. I love helping to empower a community to shun the cycle of dependency in favor of taking action themselves to improve their own lives. Mobilizing the community into action, organizing themselves, pooling their own resources together. And not once did these groups ask me for money, for handouts. These villages are close to Budalang'i town, these people know me well, many see me every day. Like my friends in Mali, over the long haul, they have grown to know and trust me. They are willing to work with me. This is what I love about the Peace Corps. And I love how my work has taken me back to the beginning.