Ten years ago, the Kenya Project at UMass Amherst was started. For the next ten years, students, faculty, and professional mentors helped establish a series of water sanitation projects in Namawanga, a rural community located in western Kenya. Starting with spring boxes, their work evolved into water sources such as rainwater catchment and well water. The breadth of their work spanned from simple water supply to more complicated water purification. Today, Namawanga has a wealth of water supply infrastructure providing them safe and reliable water- and the Kenya Project has made it their goal to work with another community to achieve the same results.
Having completed our long tenure with Namawanga, we have now begun work in the wonderful village of Nguluni, southeast of the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. Currently, this community is without a perennial water source. Already in our second year of engagement, significant progress has been made. In our first visit, we began investigating and implementing projects similar to those of our storied past in and around Nguluni. Taking community input into consideration, we helped conduct a hydrogeological survey to drill a borehole, which will provide a large portion of the community with a year-round supply of water. In an unexpected stroke of luck, the Kenyan government drilled where we had indicated we would later drill, accelerating the progress towards a constant water supply. In January 2017, we sent a team to install a pump into the borehole and assess the area around it for the implementation of a distribution system in the future. As of March 2017, the borehole was producing water and serving the community!
With a success already under our belts, we are eager to continue working with the members of the Nguluni community to expand their access to clean water infrastructure. Our goal for 2018 is to construct a distribution system to serve community gathering points such as the Nguluni Primary School, the Nguluni Secondary School, and the Mangala Dispensary, as well as educate the community on rainwater catchment system building, operation, and maintenance.
Having completed our long tenure with Namawanga, we have now begun work in the wonderful village of Nguluni, southeast of the Kenyan capital of Nairobi. Currently, this community is without a perennial water source. Already in our second year of engagement, significant progress has been made. In our first visit, we began investigating and implementing projects similar to those of our storied past in and around Nguluni. Taking community input into consideration, we helped conduct a hydrogeological survey to drill a borehole, which will provide a large portion of the community with a year-round supply of water. In an unexpected stroke of luck, the Kenyan government drilled where we had indicated we would later drill, accelerating the progress towards a constant water supply. In January 2017, we sent a team to install a pump into the borehole and assess the area around it for the implementation of a distribution system in the future. As of March 2017, the borehole was producing water and serving the community!
With a success already under our belts, we are eager to continue working with the members of the Nguluni community to expand their access to clean water infrastructure. Our goal for 2018 is to construct a distribution system to serve community gathering points such as the Nguluni Primary School, the Nguluni Secondary School, and the Mangala Dispensary, as well as educate the community on rainwater catchment system building, operation, and maintenance.
