Project Strategy

The project strategy adapted will strive to promote community benefits based on facilities and practices that are both effective and locally sustainable. These two characteristics, when standing a lone, have little value. To achieve impact at the community level, both must be achieved. The strategy to achieve effective and sustainable benefits rests on seven key project components, which are described below. The first component-presented (Integrated programming) is primarily concerned with effectiveness. The remaining six (Full community participation, use of community participatory methodologies, appropriate and environmentally safe technology, gender fairness, targeting of children, and partnership/with GOK departments) are all primarily concerned with the sustainability benefits.

Intermediate Goal

1) Improve community access,management and utilization of safe drinking water sources 2) Improve household access to and management and utilization of safe excreta disposal. 3) Improve household utilization of personal and domestic hygiene practices related to the reduction of diarrhoel diseases. 4) Effective collaboration with GOK and other agencies involved in primary health care activities within the water/sanitation/hygiene sector for improved coordination and sustainability of water sector activities and benefits.

Broad Objectives

Improve the health status of the residents of Matungu Locations of Matungu Division, Mumias District of Western Province by facilitating improved community access, management and utilization of clean drinking water sources, sanitation and hygiene promotion.

Hygiene situation in Matungu

Matungu locations have both cumulative populations of 57,031 people. Most of the community members in the two locations have poor access to safe water and improved sanitation. This has been attributed to the prevailing situation of rural poverty. The poverty situation for the both locations is in the range of 20-30 % bracket. Apparently the two locations have never been served by previous water and sanitation programmes therefore almost all the existing water points have not been protected. Most community members fetch water from the unprotected springs and streams which are unsafe for consumption. Learning institutions have also not been spared by the problem. Most schools have no access to safe water and this has had an implication to girl-child education since the are in most cases dispatched to fetch water from unprotected springs and streams. Most of the homes do not have access to good sanitation facilities due to poverty. The condition of most latrines in the villages is quite wanting. In some homes the have no access to any form of sanitation facility and homestead members resort to open defecation thus contaminating and polluting the environment. Schools have also not been spared from the problem since they have poor sanitation facilities with most children resorting to use the bushes or sugar cane plantations. The situation in schools has become worse due to the free primary education program which has led to extreme overstretch of existing facilities. There is therefore need to improve the situation through appropriate interventions.

Relevance of Project to Poverty Eradication and Wealth Creation

a) Improve community health care by improving access to safe waterpoints and sanitation facilities thus reducing Diarrhoeal diseases. Communities will spend less on medication and time thus saving funds for productive and socio-economic activities. b) Schools will have access to improved water and sanitation facilities therefore save funds for purchasing water from vendors thus save funds and reduction in school fees/levies charged to parents. c) Through hygiene and sanitation promotion in the community and in schools through participatory process the children and women who are vulnerable to diseases will be at low risk therefore women will spend more time on productive activities and children invest more time in schools especially girl child.

Problems / Challenge

Sugar cane cultivation in western Kenya, which started in mid 1970’s, has accelerated the rate of destruction of trees due to high population density has further compounded the problem of destruction of forests and trees hence threatening the very source of water within the Nile Basin. Schools continue to put pressure on forest due to their high demand for firewood to use in cooking with highly inefficient open fire stoves. These project will develop biogas as an alternative source of energy, promote economical use of energy in institutions and homesteads through use of energy saving stoves create employment for people trained in production and service of the same and of the same and efficiently generate and use the highly potent methane from farmlands through biogas plants

Problems / Challenge

Sugar cane cultivation in western Kenya, which started in mid 1970’s, has accelerated the rate of destruction of trees due to high population density has further compounded the problem of destruction of forests and trees hence threatening the very source of water within the Nile Basin. Schools continue to put pressure on forest due to their high demand for firewood to use in cooking with highly inefficient open fire stoves. These project will develop biogas as an alternative source of energy, promote economical use of energy in institutions and homesteads through use of energy saving stoves create employment for people trained in production and service of the same and of the same and efficiently generate and use the highly potent methane from farmlands through biogas plants.