A new well has been completed and handed over to the community living in the Masingo slum near Kakamega Kenya.

Our implementing partner reported the following from the handing over ceremony. (unedited)

“It was a happy and joyous moment to people of Masingo slum when the Bridge water staff went for a handing over. We were received with their traditional songs like ‘KANO AMAUA KANDATOLA KHUNJIRA’ meaning the flowers I got on my way.

On reaching the ceremonial place, happy faces of the aged mothers and fathers together with the young men and women and their children were waiting to hear the good news from us. We had no otherwise but to declare and let them take full maintenance and operation costs of the water system.

During the ceremony, everyone from the community wanted to say thank you for what they said was a miracle in their life. A grandmother aged 85 years and who has a swollen stomach for over 10 years said that her stomach was swollen because of drinking water from the sewage. But the interesting part of her story was that for the shortest period she has used the clean water, the swollen stomach is now reducing. The old mother said that was her golden chance to have clean water since she was born. Another lady said, “Since I begun using the clean water, the problems of itching, stomach ache and severe headache have stopped.

One man stood and said that, “We are now clean and we look like other human beings, GOD came inside you people and brought life to us.”

After the testimonies, we went towards the water system and we found that the community had begun growing vegetables as a result of the water system. Also a local bathroom had been built as a source of income for maintenance and operation of the water system. The community members pay 20 shillings per house hold per month.”

Hygiene and sanitation training was recently completed at the Masingo Slum Water Project.  This training is part of the process of mobilizing the community as they prepare for their new well project.

Our team instructs community members using established and proven techniques, sensitive to cultural and educational differences between various sites.

In addition to this training, our local partner established a WATSAN committee made up of men and women who will oversee and help maintain the water project in the long term.  This is phase one of our three phase water project process.  Next, the project will move into the construction phase, and finally on-going monitoring and evaluation.