We left for Kenya on June 1, and arrived back in the U.S. on June 21. The trip went well, and everyone remained safe and fairly healthy!
A spring box allows shallow groundwater in the hill behind it to collect behind a concrete structure and pour out of pipes, where the water can be collected. Building fences around spring boxes protects the shallow groundwater from fecal coliform in runoff from cow manure and other waste. Simple concept: keep the cows out, and decrease harmful bacteria! We helped build fences last year. This year, we upgraded our fence post design by incorporating steel posts. The villagers really appreciated fence posts that would last longer than wood. We supplied the steel posts, and in turn, the villagers provided the wood posts that filled in the spaces between the steel posts. Getting the posts ready took several days, but it was worth the wait to have the villagers supply their own materials! They also supplied the wood for the spring box construction. Supplying their own materials will hopefully give them more of a sense of ownership. It is important that the people we work with claim the project for themselves—that way the work will last!
Getting things done was important, but construction work often took a back seat to socializing. Our job, while we were there, was just as much to take pictures of everyone we met and to drink loads of tea and eat very good food, as it was to construct a spring box. While one of us was working, the other would often be found taking pictures and giggling with the children in the village, making sure to display the pictures after taking them so that people could see what they looked like on the camera. It got tiring after a while.
The food we ate was traditionally Kenyan. We ate ugali (seemed like stiff cream-of-wheat), mashed bananas, rice, chipati (like Indian nan), and chicken. The broth/sauce they served with it all was delicious.
Kenyans speak English and Swahili, and a local language (Bukusu in Namawanga). We quickly learned some Swahili and Bukusu greetings. The common Swahili greeting is “habari,” pronounced with a light “d” sound where the “r” is. The response to “habari” is “mzuri sana.” Translation: “how are you?” “I am very good.” Another word that was very important was “metosha,” meaning, “enough, I am full.” Thank you is “asante sana” and no worries is “hakuna matata.”
What next?
Fundraising for the well that will be drilled at Majaha Market still needs to continue: we have approximately $8,000 more to raise. Soon the group will decide how to continue on the project in other ways.
Thank you to everyone who helped and contributed with their time, their money, or their support. We needed it all! Thank you!
Our travel team was a good mixture of students: Patrick Border and Patrick Westropp (undergrads), Amanda Keyes and Christina Stauber (graduate students), and Tom Chase (graduated this past spring) made up the student team. Dr. John Tobiason joined us for the first week of the trip, and David Bakuli, our new mentor, was introduced to the team and got right to work! Chris Arsenault joined us on the second week of the trip and was a huge asset.
During our three weeks in Kenya, we hit all of our goals. Amanda Keyes measured the water quality of the spring boxes, Pat Westropp gathered health surveys, Dr. Tobiason and Christina Stauber spoke to high school students about clean water, and Tom Chase and Pat Border headed up the construction projects. While we all had our separate responsibilities, we helped each other and worked together.
During our three weeks in Kenya, we hit all of our goals. Amanda Keyes measured the water quality of the spring boxes, Pat Westropp gathered health surveys, Dr. Tobiason and Christina Stauber spoke to high school students about clean water, and Tom Chase and Pat Border headed up the construction projects. While we all had our separate responsibilities, we helped each other and worked together.
Connections and Networking
Our first day in Kenya we visited JB Drilling—our drilling company. We hope to have a well drilled at a local school by the end of the year. At JB Drilling we met with Tom Armstrong, and were reunited with Chris Arsenault and Julie Gagen—former Kenya project leaders!
We made some invaluable connections with a nearby university and with a group called GWAKO that works to bring biosand filters for household water treatment into villages like Namawanga. With a biosand filter, villagers can safely drink water that is closer by but is not as clean as water from a spring box or a drilled well (drilled well water is the best quality!). We ran into LOTI (Least of These International), who were distributing solar panels and training villagers to maintain them. Solar panels allow for electric lighting at night, and people signed up to buy them, either paying 8,000 KSH (about $130) all at once, or through a payment plan.
We made some invaluable connections with a nearby university and with a group called GWAKO that works to bring biosand filters for household water treatment into villages like Namawanga. With a biosand filter, villagers can safely drink water that is closer by but is not as clean as water from a spring box or a drilled well (drilled well water is the best quality!). We ran into LOTI (Least of These International), who were distributing solar panels and training villagers to maintain them. Solar panels allow for electric lighting at night, and people signed up to buy them, either paying 8,000 KSH (about $130) all at once, or through a payment plan.
Construction: What exactly did we do?
We were able to build four fences around spring boxes that had not been previously protected, and we built our own spring box.
Pat Border (who just finished his first year at UMass) led the fence construction, allowing Tom Chase time to head up the construction of a spring box! Chris Arsenault and Pat Border helped with the spring box considerably, and I think we all took our turns digging knee deep in a muddy trench.
Pat Border (who just finished his first year at UMass) led the fence construction, allowing Tom Chase time to head up the construction of a spring box! Chris Arsenault and Pat Border helped with the spring box considerably, and I think we all took our turns digging knee deep in a muddy trench. David Bakuli, our new mentor (and Kenyan native), really came to our rescue as well. He helped with everything from communication and driving to chopping wood and pouring concrete. There wasn’t anything he couldn’t help with!
We started to run out of time while working on the spring box, but the guys really pulled it together and finished just in time.
We started to run out of time while working on the spring box, but the guys really pulled it together and finished just in time.
A little bit about spring boxes…
A spring box allows shallow groundwater in the hill behind it to collect behind a concrete structure and pour out of pipes, where the water can be collected. Building fences around spring boxes protects the shallow groundwater from fecal coliform in runoff from cow manure and other waste. Simple concept: keep the cows out, and decrease harmful bacteria! We helped build fences last year. This year, we upgraded our fence post design by incorporating steel posts. The villagers really appreciated fence posts that would last longer than wood. We supplied the steel posts, and in turn, the villagers provided the wood posts that filled in the spaces between the steel posts. Getting the posts ready took several days, but it was worth the wait to have the villagers supply their own materials! They also supplied the wood for the spring box construction. Supplying their own materials will hopefully give them more of a sense of ownership. It is important that the people we work with claim the project for themselves—that way the work will last!
What was it really like being in the village?
Getting things done was important, but construction work often took a back seat to socializing. Our job, while we were there, was just as much to take pictures of everyone we met and to drink loads of tea and eat very good food, as it was to construct a spring box. While one of us was working, the other would often be found taking pictures and giggling with the children in the village, making sure to display the pictures after taking them so that people could see what they looked like on the camera. It got tiring after a while.
The food we ate was traditionally Kenyan. We ate ugali (seemed like stiff cream-of-wheat), mashed bananas, rice, chipati (like Indian nan), and chicken. The broth/sauce they served with it all was delicious.
Language
Kenyans speak English and Swahili, and a local language (Bukusu in Namawanga). We quickly learned some Swahili and Bukusu greetings. The common Swahili greeting is “habari,” pronounced with a light “d” sound where the “r” is. The response to “habari” is “mzuri sana.” Translation: “how are you?” “I am very good.” Another word that was very important was “metosha,” meaning, “enough, I am full.” Thank you is “asante sana” and no worries is “hakuna matata.”
Lodgings
We stayed in a guest house in a town about a half-hour’s drive from Namawanga. Our rooms consisted of two beds with mosquito nets, a shower, a toilet with no toilet seat (that sort of flushed), and a sink with a mirror. The service was excellent and our laundry was done and our bed sheets changed whenever we wanted.
Food at the hotel was good too. We had breakfast and dinner at the hotel, and lunch in the village. We ordered dinner in the morning. We ate chicken, beef, and lamb, with ugali or rice, and with a dish prepared from seaweed.
We stayed in a guest house in a town about a half-hour’s drive from Namawanga. Our rooms consisted of two beds with mosquito nets, a shower, a toilet with no toilet seat (that sort of flushed), and a sink with a mirror. The service was excellent and our laundry was done and our bed sheets changed whenever we wanted.
Food at the hotel was good too. We had breakfast and dinner at the hotel, and lunch in the village. We ordered dinner in the morning. We ate chicken, beef, and lamb, with ugali or rice, and with a dish prepared from seaweed.
What next?
Fundraising for the well that will be drilled at Majaha Market still needs to continue: we have approximately $8,000 more to raise. Soon the group will decide how to continue on the project in other ways.
Thank you to everyone who helped and contributed with their time, their money, or their support. We needed it all! Thank you!
