The community at Lokichar, Turkana, collects water from a source that had been dry for almost two years before it was rehabilitated by Practical Action
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The community at Lokichar participates in trenching works
The solar pumping system and 10 cubic metre tank installed at Lokichar, Turkana, by Practical Action through the SWIFT programme
During the last three months of the first, ‘outputs’ phase of the SWIFT programme, Practical Action reached more than 10,000 people in Kenya’s arid northern county of Turkana with clean, safe water by equipping and bringing online four boreholes it had drilled in 2015.
The boreholes were all equipped with solar pumping systems, and are now supplying communities at Lorgum Lotede, Lorgum Ekaliyo, Katilu and Lokichar with clean, reliable water. The number of people Practical Action could invoice for through SWIFT’s Payment by Results contract was capped at 10,403, but the actual number of people benefiting from the new sources is considerably higher.
Practical Action also trained a further six Water Users’ Associations during the first quarter of 2016, to equip them with the skills needed to take ownership of new water systems. The training sessions covered leadership skills, setting tariffs for water, and systems operation and maintenance, and were attended by an average of ten people per committee.
Community-Led Total Sanitation
In addition to its work to improve Turkana’s water infrastructure, Practical Action with the support of the Turkana County Government is implementing the Community-Led Total Sanitation approach, a process of mobilising communities to completely eliminate open defecation.
During the last three months of the output phase of the programme, communities in Lolupe, Loturerei and Nadapal were ‘re-triggered’ to encourage construction of hygienic latrines, with the support of the Ministry of Public Health, community health workers and community health volunteers.
‘Triggering’ is the process of stimulating a collective sense of disgust and shame among community members as they confront the facts about open defecation. The ‘re-triggering’ events led to the construction of 63 latrines in the three villages, which are now providing access to safe sanitation for 1,071 people. The total number of people Practical Action reached with sanitation during the period was 1,428.
Focus on sustainability and ownership
Over the next two years of the SWIFT programme – until the end of March 2018 – Practical Action will focus on monitoring project activities to ensure the sustainability and ownership of the water facilities. It will also work with public health officers and community health workers and volunteers to ensure the good hygiene practices introduced through the Community-Led Total Sanitation approach are maintained.
