Kenya – Water1st International

Kenya: our newest program

Of the 2 billion people on our planet who lack access to safe water at home, nearly half live in Africa. Based on that fact alone, we could not imagine a better place for us to invest our resources.

We’re also committed to our model of toilets and piped water at all homes, everywhere. We know from our metering data that only when water is piped home, do people use enough for important activities like handwashing.

Although the United Nations has officially adopted household water service as one of the Sustainable Development Goals, investments in water flowing out of a faucet in African homes remain extremely rare.

With our expansion to two new partner organizations in Kenya, we will continue to show the world what is possible in African communities once the burden of water-fetching is in their past.

ABOUT KENYA*

Population: 54,027,487
Poverty rate: 45%
Partners: Kenya Water for Health Organization and Community Asset Building and Development Action

COMPLETED PROJECTS

3,990 projects
190,724 people with clean water and toilets

UNDER CONSTRUCTION

1 project serving 740 people

*Source: World Bank and UNICEF

About our new partners

Kenya Water for Health Organiation (KWAHO) is Kenya’s oldest non-profit organization focused on addressing the water, sanitation, and hygiene needs of Kenyan communities. KWAHO was founded in 1976 following the UN-Decade of Women conference in Mexico City addressing the needs of women around the world. The women’s delegation from Kenya made a presentation on a concept for providing easy access to safe water for Kenyan women. UNICEF decided to fund the project and the women from the delegation formed an implementation team. The work was so successful that the team decided to create an organization to replicate the outcomes throughout the country. Since that time, KWAHO has continued to implement projects that address the water and sanitation needs in Kenya, impacting over 3.5 million lives.

KWAHO is based in Nairobi, but they have projects throughout the country. KWAHO is focusing Water1st’s funding in and around Kisumu, a county in Western Kenya on the shores of Lake Nam Lolwe (renamed “Lake Victoria” by colonists). The county contains the city of Kisumu, Kenya’s third largest city with a population of about 500,000. The first Water1st project will serve the community of Kokelo, which is a small agricultural community about 20 miles west of the city.

Community Asset Building and Development Action (CABDA) was founded by a Kenyan women, Ephy Imbali. CABDA works with thousands of orphans, vulnerable children, and their families who have been significantly impacted by the HIV pandemic in Western Kenya. In their initial application to us, their values statement was striking: “Service to all members especially the disadvantaged, Fairness in exercise of our mandate, Humility with those we interact with, Honesty of purpose, Love in the true sense of word.”

CABDA is based in Kakamega and plans to focus Water1st funding in Busia county.

Slum residents have no legal access to public water supply or sewer systems

Water1st works in urban slums in Bangladesh’s three largest cities—the capital, Dhaka (population 18 million), Chattogram, (4 million), and Khulna (1 million). They have no legal access to public water supply or sewer systems. Adding to the crisis is the rapid increase in urban slum populations in Bangladesh: 150,000-400,000 new residents arrive each year from rural areas seeking a better life for their families.

In these squatter settlements, renters are forced to buy water of unknown quality at very expensive rates. There are no sewer pipes in these neighborhoods, so waste from ‘open’ toilets flows right through the community, making living conditions extremely unhygienic, and sanitary toilets a high priority.

Piped Water

Water1st encourages the adoption of piped water networks, which provide the best results at the lowest long-term cost. In our piped network systems, water is pumped to an elevated storage tank. From the storage tank, water flows to one or more locations in the slum settlement, providing ample water to residents for drinking, cooking, bathing, and laundry.

High-quality toilets

DSK incorporates high-quality toilets that are easily distinguishable from most other toilets built by NGOs around the world. They use a porcelain pan for easy cleaning and a water seal that makes them odorless. Water faucets are placed in the stalls for flushing, cleaning, and hand washing.

Hygiene education

A comprehensive hygiene education program addresses the community’s most challenging health issues. Various trainings are targeted to those who care for young children, to adolescent girls entering puberty, and to special groups like food and tea vendors. These trainings result in dramatic changes in hygiene behavior and significant gains in health indicators.

Sustainable Programmatic Strategy

Community organizing

Our local partner, DSK, takes a participatory approach to project implementation. The process starts with a community mapping exercise to identify local housing, shops, roads, mosques, and of course, water sources and toilets. Communities vote on their highest-priority issues and then create an action plan to solve them. Water supply is commonly identified as the most critical need; not surprising when slum communities report spending up to 40% of their annual income treating water-related illnesses.

REVOLVING LOANS

Users of the water systems and toilets are required to pay 100% of the construction costs via a long-term, low-interest loan. The loan approach insures water systems and toilets are built for those who really want and need them. With repayment rates exceeding 96%, we have nearly doubled our reach and rate of project completion.

Water is the catalyst

Once neighborhoods have organized themselves to solve their water and sanitation problems, they are prepared to tackle other high-priority issues, such as trash collection, roads, and improved drainage. Water committees have organized household garbage collection for a small monthly fee. Each day, a paid garbage crew collects waste and transports it to a government-approved dump site.

Independent rating

Received an independent evidence-based evaluation from the Water for Life Rating System and scoring “Recommended for Future Funding.”

Take a virtual tour of a typical project:

URBAN SLUMS, BANGLADESH

Bangladesh is considered the world’s most densely populated country with 2,900 people per square mile. Compare this to 83 people per square mile for the USA and 360 for China.

Water1st works in urban and peri-urban slums in the 3 largest cities in Bangladesh - the capital, Dhaka, population 15 million; Chittagong, population 4 million; and Khulna, population 1 million.

Approximately one in four residents of these cities live in slum communities with no legal access to public water supply and sewer. It is estimated that as many as 90% of slum dwellers lack access to safe water and 85% lack access to hygienic toilets.

Adding to the crisis is the rapid increase in urban slum populations in Bangladesh: 150,000 - 400,000 new residents arrive each year from rural areas seeking a better life for their families.

In these squatter settlements, the poor are forced to buy water of unknown quality at very expensive rates from illegal connections or draw water from severely contaminated rivers and canals.

In most poor neighborhoods, there are no sewer pipes and ‘open’ toilets (meaning not connected to a sewer system) flow right through the community. This is why toilets are a high priority in our project areas.

This photo was taken during a cholera outbreak. In Bangladesh, there is a spike in diarrhea patients each year during the dry season. People are hot and need more water, but less water is available, so they turn to sources that are more contaminated.

Our local partner organization, DSK, has pioneered effective water supply and sanitation interventions in urban slum environments. DSK offers users a range of options for water and toilets.

DSK builds water seal toilets with porcelain bowls—features we enjoy too because it means toilets are odor-free and easy to use and clean.

DSK requires users of the water systems and toilets to pay 100% of the construction costs via a long-term, low-interest loan. Water1st provides the capital for these loans as well as grant support for mobilizing and training communities.

Repayment rates have been very high (96+%). Repaid loan funds are used to fund more projects. Currently, 40% of our annual budget for Bangladesh comes from repaid loans.

All construction work is preceded by a well-organized effort to help community members prioritize their needs. This starts with a mapping exercise to identify local houses, shops, roads, mosques, and of course, water sources and any toilets or places for defecation.

Communities vote on their highest priority issues and then create a plan for solving them. It is common to see water supply (listed first) and voted as the biggest need. Medicine to treat diarrhea is often a major expenditure, even higher than rent.

For users within their service area, DSK has negotiated with the public water supply agencies to establish community water points that connect to public water supply pipelines. All connections are metered and the users pay a monthly bill based on volume used.

Because the public water supply is irregular, storage is built and users access the water when they need it via a hand-pump.

Users outside the public water supply service area can drill wells to establish their own water source.

After drilling, the water is tested for bacteriological contaminants, arsenic and nitrates. Water quality continues to be monitored after the well is in use. Users of the system and our local partner both keep copies of the test results.

Water is pumped to elevated storage tanks by a submersible pump or a less-expensive air compressor. Even though it means higher loan repayments, most users are choosing the submersible pump because it provides better service.

Water is piped from the storage tank to one or more locations in the settlement, providing ample water to residents for drinking, cooking, laundry and bathing.

A huge benefit of the piped water system is that water can be provided inside the toilet/shower stalls for washing hands, flushing toilets, cleaning toilets, and bathing.

Water is also provided at schools, workplaces, and public markets. DSK's goal is that people have clean water everywhere they go.

Toilets are also built in schools and public places.

Our local partner organizes different groups of people in neighborhoods to talk about hygiene education. This is a children’s group.

There are also women’s groups and adolescent girls’ groups (to talk specifically about menstrual hygiene). They also reach out to men at tea stalls, where they often gather to drink tea and socialize.

Once neighborhoods have organized to solve their water and sanitation problems, we often see them address other high priority issues like trash collection and drainage.

Water committees have joined together to set up garbage collection for a small monthly fee. A paid garbage crew comes by each day to collect waste and dump it in an area away from homes and approved by the city government.

The result of all these efforts is completely transformation in slum communities. We are very proud of DSK's efforts to bring dignity and basic services to the urban poor of Bangladesh.

Stories from the field

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