plan 312Lenchekut Wells 1 and 2

Summary

The Samburu Project brings wells to communities which otherwise suffer the health and livelihood consequences of being without water. Our wells enhance the lives of thousands!

Background

The Samburu District is located in the Great Rift Valley, one of the driest places in Kenya. Annual rainfall is estimated at 400mm and can be extremely erratic. Most streams run dry for months at a time. The consequent challenges to health, sanitation and livelihoods present an urgent need for water in the communities in the area.

Currently, many Samburu women walk up to 20km each day in search of water and the water they find is often unclean, originating from gaping, hand-dug wells contaminated by wildlife and livestock. Drinking contaminated water can cause diarrhea, one of the leading causes of death in Samburu. Carrying heavy water containers for long distances has been linked to other health issues, including severe back problems and a high incidence of miscarriage. Spending the majority of their day searching for water leaves Samburu women with no time to develop income-generating businesses, care for their children, become more informed about their human rights, or send their children to school. Commonly, Samburu girls do not attend school because they are expected to join their mothers in this quest for water.

With the 30 wells The Samburu Project has drilled, more than 30,000 people now have access to clean, safe drinking water. As a result of their access to water, women have fewer health problems and have begun nourishing themselves and generating income through agricultural endeavors. The number of women engaging in farming and micro enterprise initiatives has grown from 54 to over 1000 since Samburu Project wells became operational. Instead of solely hunting for water everyday, girls can now attend school and become educated assets to their communities. Since the establishment of wells in Samburu East, the number of girls attending school has tripled.

Location

Lenchekut, East Samburu District, Kenya

Attachments

  • SamburuP...
  • SamburuP...
  • SamburuP...
  • SamburuP...
  • SamburuP...
  • Budget_-...

Focus

Primary Focus: Drinking Water - Community
Secondary Focus: Drinking Water - Households

People Getting Safe Drinking Water: 1,870

Local government data estimate that there are 374 households in the village, with an average of 5 members per household.

School Children Getting Water: 0

This is a community project that benefits children both at home and, in some cases, in their ability to attend school.

People Getting Sanitation: 0

The focus of The Samburu Project is the provision of safe drinking water.

People Getting Other Benefits: 1,870

Secondary benefits of the wells are determined by the demographic characteristics and needs of the resident population. The main benefits received by all are increased hydration, sanitation and hygiene. We have also seen increases in the number of girls attending school, the number of healthy births, and opportunities for women outside of the household.

Start Date: 2010-11-01

Completion Date: 2011-01-01

Technology Used:

The overall objective of The Samburu Project is to enhance the lives of the Samburu people in the villages where our wells drilled. By freeing women of the obligation to spend hours per day looking for water, and by ensuring that everyone has access to clean, safe drinking water, we have given women the opportunity to engage in other activities, given children the opportunity to go to school, and given everyone the chance to live more healthful lives. This success has inspired us to drill another 25 Wells in the area.

The Samburu Project works closely with local communities during every step of the process. Communities first apply to The Samburu Project community-based organization (CBO) for a well to be drilled in their community and once their application is accepted they work alongside Samburu Project’s CBO and hydrogeologist to select a location for their well. Each community, represented by a women’s group, signs a contract agreeing to specific conditions and responsibilities, including: clearing area for well site; collecting and delivering sand, concrete and hardcore; participating in maintenance, hygiene and sanitation workshops; and creating a community fund for ongoing well maintenance.

We have had much success with our use of the Afridev Handpump. It is widely used across Africa and is attractive because of its simplicity and sustainability. Maintenance is easy and there is limited breakage. The must common repair issue is caused by the wearing away of the rubber parts. These are easily obtained, often at no cost, from the drilling company and can be replaced by trained members of the community.

Phases:

We typically drill wells in sets of eight to twelve. Drilling will take place over the course of three weeks. Before drilling can start, we must spend three to five weeks working with our hydrogeologist to determine the ideal location of each well. In

Community Organization:

We consider the wells to be the property and responsibility of the community from their inception. In addition to the community’s capacity during the building process, they are fully responsible for the maintenance of the wells. With the help of our Project Manager—a Samburu tribesman and local leader himself—each village forms a water committee which sees to it that the wells are maintained and access is granted fairly to community members. Each household contributes to a well-maintenance fund, which is used to buy parts in the event of a breakdown. The role of The Samburu Project is to monitor this process, providing backup when needed.

Government Interaction:

Before the well is drilled, the local Samburu Project CBO acquires a permit for drilling from the District Water Office, a branch of the Kenyan Ministry of Water. In addition, our Project Manager, Lucas Lekwale is a member of the District Development Committee and the NGO Representative to the District.

Ancillary activities:

Once clean water is established as a baseline, we work with other CBO partners to impact additional aspects of community life, including education, healthcare, income generation and women’s empowerment. For instance, through our partnership with One Kid One World, Lolkuniyani Primary School in Wamba has been enhanced with new classrooms, more teachers and a water catchment system. Through the Falkenberg Education Program, The Samburu Project is helping children prepare to attend secondary school through the purchase of test preparation books, provision of desks, rehabilitation of school facilities and donation of sporting equipment.

An example of an ancillary activity:
The Samburu Project completed construction of the Milimani water well in July 2007, providing this Wamba community with a stable source of clean water and making it possible for the 30-40-member Milimani Women’s Group to undertake a sustainable farming project under the guidance of a project director from the Kenya Horticultural Group. The farm currently grows cabbage, kale, tomatoes, potatoes, maize, beans, passion fruit, and other fruits and vegetables. Excess produce is sold in town, generating 450,000 KES (approximately US$6000) in annual income. In addition to crop production, the Milimani Women’s Group is developing other income-generating activities, such as bee keeping (harvesting honey and beeswax for sale); dairy goat production; and beading, which is central to their culture. With revenue generated from these activities, the Milimani Women’s Group is able to maintain a bank account and provide “no interest” loans to group members to open shops, sell items at local markets and participate in livestock trading. The Milimani Women’s Group has demonstrated how a community with access to clean water can eliminate poverty, become self-sufficient, and improve the livelihoods and wellbeing of its members. Projects such as these have begun to spring up at many of our different well sites.

Other Issues:

Life for Samburu women is extremely difficult. Women and girls lack basic rights. Women are the property of their husbands and rarely given opportunities to own goods or property. In some villages, girls are not permitted to go to school. The Samburu circumcise girls as a right of passage. The Samburu also practice polygamy, so it is not uncommon for a man to have multiple wives. Violence against women is socially acceptable and often encouraged. Samburu women carry all the daily household burdens, including fetching water and firewood, caring for their children, building and maintaining their homes, tending to livestock, and cooking. The direst issue in Samburu is not HIV/AIDS, malaria, poverty or genital mutilation, however. It’s lack of clean water and facilities for proper sanitation.

Our wells have provided a degree freedom that was previously unavailable to the women in these communities. Women are now able to spend less time on water, and more time on activities for themselves and their families.

Maintenance Revenue:

Again, this figure is estimated for 1 well. This project consists of 2.

The community agrees by contract to pay for maintenance costs. Each well committee collects approximately $250 dollars per year for this purpose. In order to ensure well functionality and monitor its use, The Samburu Project spends approximately $160 per year per well. This comes from our general fund, which is maintained by individual donations.

Maintenance Cost: $410

Metrics:

Prior art before metrics

Cost: $28,000

See Attached

Co Funding Amount: $0

Not Applicable

Community Contribution Amount: $1,850

Estimastion based on labor contributed for clearing the site and collecting the sand, hard core, ballast and water needed to build the well.

Figure is an estimate for each well, of which there will be 2 on this project.

Fund Requested: $28,000

Attachments

  • SamburuP...
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  • SamburuP...
  • Budget_-...
  • 2 participants | show more

    fee collection

    Gemma Bulos of A Single Drop

    Hi there Can you tell me how fees are collected? Do people pay monthly, or by the jerican? is it free for the students? Does anyone get paid for repair, or is the women's group all volunteer? I understand you've estimated a $410/year for the maintenance and the collection yields $250. Where are the donations coming from? Who works with...

    Hi there

    Can you tell me how fees are collected? Do people pay monthly, or by the jerican? is it free for the students? Does anyone get paid for repair, or is the women's group all volunteer?

    I understand you've estimated a $410/year for the maintenance and the collection yields $250. Where are the donations coming from?

    Who works with the hydrologist to find the best sites? Are women involved in the decision-making around location selection?

    Thanks! Good luck!
    gemma

    • Kristen Kosinski of The Samburu Project

      Hi Gemma, Fee collection methods are left up to the determination of the local communities, but generally each community has a Water Committee that determines the collection method and actually collects the fees. Community members pay a monthly fee and people from outside the community can pay by the jerrycan or by the head of livestock t...

      Hi Gemma,
      Fee collection methods are left up to the determination of the local communities, but generally each community has a Water Committee that determines the collection method and actually collects the fees. Community members pay a monthly fee and people from outside the community can pay by the jerrycan or by the head of livestock that they wish to water.
      The first line of repair is for the community to repair the well themselves. Maintenance workshops are taught by our project manager at the time of drilling and he is often available to help with repairs after drilling as well. If the community cannot repair the well themselves, they must higher an outside contractor at their own cost.
      We factor our project manager's salary into the maintenance costs. That salary is paid by donations from the public, etc.
      The community, our project manager, and local woman's groups all work with the hydrologist to find the best sites.

      Hope this answers your questions,
      Robert

  • 2 participants | show more

    Spare parts & women's rights

    Idriss Kamara of Safer Future Youth Development Project

    Hello, I like very much the economic opportunities you have managed to create from your project. How easy do you find it to replace parts, also as the women are treated poorly do they get to keep the profit from their enterprises or is much of it seized by husbands?

    Hello,

    I like very much the economic opportunities you have managed to create from your project. How easy do you find it to replace parts, also as the women are treated poorly do they get to keep the profit from their enterprises or is much of it seized by husbands?

    • Kristen Kosinski of The Samburu Project

      Hello Idriss, The Samburu Project's CBO keeps spare parts for the local communities to purchase, so for the most part they are pretty easy for the communities to get. If the Samburu Project does not have the part in stock, the local communities would generally have no idea how to get it. This is a problem that we are in the process of fi...

      Hello Idriss,
      The Samburu Project's CBO keeps spare parts for the local communities to purchase, so for the most part they are pretty easy for the communities to get. If the Samburu Project does not have the part in stock, the local communities would generally have no idea how to get it. This is a problem that we are in the process of finding solutions to.
      As for the domestic violence issue, domestic violence is certainly an issue in Samburu and has been for a long time. Whether it is related to income generating activities for women is not something that we have been able to establish as of yet. It is our understanding that since the inception of our wells, domestic abuse has not become any more prevalent. However, your question has inspired us to look further into this for more concrete data.
      Robert

  • 2 participants | show more

    The water situation and its use

    Gilles Corcos of Agua Para la Vida (APLV)

    This looks like a desperately needed project and so should have high priority. On the source of water: -The wells are hand dug or sometimes perforated by drilling rigs? -How deep down does the water lay? - Do the wells dry out sometime in the year or are the aquifer abundant? -Are the wells completely covered? On its uses. Are your villag...

    This looks like a desperately needed project and so should have high priority.
    On the source of water:
    -The wells are hand dug or sometimes perforated by drilling rigs?
    -How deep down does the water lay?
    - Do the wells dry out sometime in the year or are the aquifer abundant?
    -Are the wells completely covered?

    On its uses. Are your villages concentrated? what would you say is the average distance beween the well and the houses?

    Have you any idea how much water the family members carry per family per day?
    If they pay by the jerry can or pail that should be easy to figure out.
    Gilles Corcos APLV

    • Kristen Kosinski of The Samburu Project

      Hi Gilles, Our wells are all drilled and not hand dug. They are all completely sealed with a concrete slab and accessible only by hand pump. We normally drill to about 70 meters, but typically the water is found between 35-40 meters down. We have yet to have a well dry out even in sever drought. This is because of the depth of the wel...

      Hi Gilles,
      Our wells are all drilled and not hand dug. They are all completely sealed with a concrete slab and accessible only by hand pump. We normally drill to about 70 meters, but typically the water is found between 35-40 meters down.
      We have yet to have a well dry out even in sever drought. This is because of the depth of the wells and the abundance of the aquifer. We are going down 70 meters and tapping into a very abundant aquifer.
      Samburu culture is not really village oriented, but is more clan based. Communities tend to be more spread out and live in non-permanent structures. Many of these together form a community. As such there is not much of a concentration of housing, but most people will be within a kilometer of the well.
      Funding for community members is through a community fund and not per jerrycan. For that reason, we are unsure of the exact amount that each family uses per day.
      Thanks,
      Robert

  • 2 participants | show more

    Testing of wells

    Claire Rumpsa of Aqua Clara International

    Hi, On average how deep are the wells that your organization is digging? I understand that high levels of fluoride can be a problem in the Rift Valley region. Do you test for fluoride after digging the wells? I think your approach of working with women is very commendable and also like the other income generating projects that your orga...

    Hi,
    On average how deep are the wells that your organization is digging? I understand that high levels of fluoride can be a problem in the Rift Valley region. Do you test for fluoride after digging the wells?

    I think your approach of working with women is very commendable and also like the other income generating projects that your organization starts.

    Claire
    Aqua Clara International

    • Kristen Kosinski of The Samburu Project

      Hi Claire, We normally drill to about 70 meters, but typically the water is found between 35-40 meters down. We do testing on each well to assess a wide range of mineral levels and to ensure proper safety, but have yet to find the fluoride levels to be a problem. Thanks you for your very nice compliment, Robert

      Hi Claire,
      We normally drill to about 70 meters, but typically the water is found between 35-40 meters down. We do testing on each well to assess a wide range of mineral levels and to ensure proper safety, but have yet to find the fluoride levels to be a problem.
      Thanks you for your very nice compliment,
      Robert

  • 2 participants | show more

    Stats on well maintenance

    Claire Rumpsa of Aqua Clara International

    Hi Robert, Thanks for your answer to my previous question. How often do you test the wells are they are drilled? I understand that this project is part of the second set of 25 wells by the Samburu project. Could you share any statistics on how often the first set of 25 wells had to be repaired or maintained? The proposal mentions that ...

    Hi Robert,
    Thanks for your answer to my previous question. How often do you test the wells are they are drilled? I understand that this project is part of the second set of 25 wells by the Samburu project. Could you share any statistics on how often the first set of 25 wells had to be repaired or maintained? The proposal mentions that some of the spare parts are available from the well drilling company. How successful has this approach been? Is this part of the contract with the company?
    Best wishes,
    Claire

    • Robert Pierce of The Samburu Project

      Claire, We are currently developing a system wherein we will randomly test a sample of our wells each year to ensure that they remain contamination free. While I do not have the exact statistics that you requested, I spoke with our project manager who informed me that while the period between repair and maintenance varies greatly with eac...

      Claire,
      We are currently developing a system wherein we will randomly test a sample of our wells each year to ensure that they remain contamination free. While I do not have the exact statistics that you requested, I spoke with our project manager who informed me that while the period between repair and maintenance varies greatly with each well due to the different levels of use in each community, the average is that a well needs maintenance or repair once every three months. To clarify about the spare parts, the well drilling company will leave parts behind on the drill, but that is not specified in the contract. So initially, the community can use any spare parts that the drilling has left behind, after that they can purchase parts from our project manager at cost.
      Thanks,
      Robert

  • 2 participants | show more

    Sustainability:

    Iskaka Msigwa of Tanzania Mission to the Poor and Disabled (PADI)

    Please can you clarify more, how 250 dollars will be collected from the committee? I s the direct beneficiaries responsible to pay the fee or the committee members?

    Please can you clarify more, how 250 dollars will be collected from the committee? I s the direct beneficiaries responsible to pay the fee or the committee members?

    • Robert Pierce of The Samburu Project

      Hi Iskaka, The $250 is not actually collected from the committee. They keep it to pay for maintenance and repairs. Typically, the committee is made up of households and not individuals, so in that sense, the direct beneficiaries do not pay, but their household does. Let me know if that does not make sense or does not answer your question...

      Hi Iskaka,
      The $250 is not actually collected from the committee. They keep it to pay for maintenance and repairs. Typically, the committee is made up of households and not individuals, so in that sense, the direct beneficiaries do not pay, but their household does.
      Let me know if that does not make sense or does not answer your question,
      Robert

  • Rating: 8

    review by Safer Future Youth Development Project

    The project seems strong, with a good process of site selection, water quality testing and management. 3 months seems a little frequent for repairs - i'm not sure if this is an inherent issue with the chosen technology or is down to misuse. Overall, seems solid. Keep up the good work.

  • Rating: 7

    review by Project Well

    People are very poor, it would be difficult to sustain the source without maintenance and having the CBOs pay for it would be a challenge. It is very important to set up a surveillance system of your own and also on PWX to track monthly followed by bi-annual checking. The bi-annual (June and December) reporting can go on the PWX. More pictures during and after implementation would help the reviewers and funders in future. Good Luck.

  • Rating: 8

    review by Aqua Clara International

    The Samburu Project has drilled 28 wells in the Samburu region of Kenya and some other water catchment and irrigation systems. Wells are an appropriate and much needed technology in this region as water is scarce and rainfall is erratic. ACI staff in East Africa have also first hand experience of dealing with the problem of hand dug and unprotected wells and agree that properly constructed and maintained wells are vital.

    There are several positive aspects to this proposed project. The Samburu project sets clear expectations for the communities who wish to have a well drilled. There is good participation by the communities in the construction of their wells alongside the requirement that they also participate in hygiene and sanitation workshops. The Samburu project are trying to address the difficult issue of maintenance by setting up community maintenance funds and running classes for maintenance. According to the project manager, maintenance is performed on average every 3 months. It would be good for the project to have more exact figures as the program continues to grow.

    The Samburu Project provides regular oversight and works with local CBOs and employs a local circuit rider. The addition of other income generating activities after the baseline of clean water has been established is important and these projects are more locally economically sustainable.

  • Rating: 8

    review by Tanzania Mission to the Poor and Disabled (PADI)

    According to the project description, it shows that, some of the school children are not attending school as they are joining their mother to collect some water 20km far from home, funding of this project will reduce the problem.

  • Rating: 9

    review by Agua Para la Vida (APLV)

    This looks like basic and essential work. It would be interesting to find out the water capacity of these aquifers , not only to figure out if they have a lifetime once put to use but also to determine whether they could serve additional purposes such as a modest amount of irrigation.
    Ffnally I am curious about the work done by the hydrogeologist in this context
    Gilles Corcos, APLV

  • Rating: 8

    review by Blue Planet Network

    This is a good plan building on earlier experience (and i hope that we get all that into their PWX project history).

  • Rating: 8

    review by A Single Drop

    Great! I like that its a women's project and the women have been given very specific achievable duties and responsibilities. I'd be interested to see how the "donation" from the community lasts! but this is an important project and I think there is definitely an urgency

  • Rating: 8

    review by Ekoventure

    Commendable work. The participation of the beneficiaries in the entire project and contribution would help in sustaining the project. Good work.

    AR. Natarajan

Name Status Completion Date Final Cost
D6W9: Golgoltim Well (fka Lenchekut 1) completed Jan 2013 16,850
D6W8: Lempuranai Well (fka Lenchekut 2) completed Jan 2013 15,850