Impact of water, sanitation and hygiene interventions in Kenya - A Case Study

Improved water, sanitation and hygiene practices are crucial to the improvement in the livelihood of any community. Pragya Kenya’s WASH project aimed to improve domestic water supplies as well as impact on the health of the community members within Laikipia and Samburu counties in Kenya. With the implementation of the WASH project, the interventions have effectively addressed some of the key issues thereby improving family health and livelihood among the community members. Appropriate interventions were made to improve domestic water supplies through revitalization and protection of water sources, construction of rainwater harvesting structures as well as construction of Eco-san toilets. The project also created awareness in schools and within the communities through training of water sanitation councils to promote practices that ensure reservation and proper conservation of water sources.


A Case Study




Mrs Lydia Kisersian,  a 36 year old mother of 2 children (Jesinoi, 13yrs old and  Kereiyo, 7yrs old) lives in Mkurian village in Laikipia north. She has benefitted greatly from the rain water harvesting structure that has been constructed a few meters from her homestead. This water source, though it’s not able to store water for the entire dry season, has still saved her form commuting the long distance of 4km in order to fetch water from Olkinyei seasonal river. These trips used to take her 3 to 4 hours every day and shows able to make only 2 trips in a day. Since this water would not be sufficient for use in the homestead therefore her two children would make another trip in the evening after they got back from school. She is now able to get both domestic and livestock water from that source which is 100m from her homestead. This has been of great benefit to her since now she is able to engage herself in other activities that bring extra income to her family. She has joined a beading group where they make beaded ornaments like necklaces and bangles and sell in the market at a profit. Her children also get more time to concentrate on learning and doing homework other than fetching water after school.

 [Lydia (seen below) who has benefited from Pragya’s WASH project, which has seen construction of rainwater harvesting structures.)

Rehabilitation work for flood hit Himalayan villages

From the onset of its relief operations for the flood affected Himalayan districts in June 2013, Pragya staff has been involved in carrying out area specific need assessments, which helped in formulation of effective rehabilitation strategies with inputs from key stakeholders. Pragya is in the midst of implementing its rehabilitation plan in the four affected districts viz. Rudraprayag, Pithoragarh, Chamoli and Uttarkashi. The interventions are spread across various sectors to reinstate people most affected by the floods. Click here for more on Pragya's work related to flood rehabilitation in Uttarakhand.

Regular health camps & psycho-social counselling sessions are being conducted in flood-affected villages by competent & qualified personnel. Pre-fabricated toilets (in order to ensure quicker installations) are being set up for households that have suffered severe damage to their houses. Covered water storage tanks with filtration units are being provided to the communities for ensuring safe potable water. A cadre of youth volunteers has been created in the flood affected districts as a Helpline to spread awareness and assist people to avail newly introduced schemes and provisions for flood-affected people/communities in the state, facilitating them with necessary paper work and procedures. Pragya is also working to ensure livelihood security for the households that are severely affected in terms of livelihoods due to the flashfloods in Uttarakhand. Households are being provided material support and technical assistance for setting up suitable low-cost greenhouses, along with vegetable seeds & saplings, farm tools etc., for undertaking cultivation of short-gestation, high-value vegetable crops for sale. Pragya is in process of initiating an in-depth research for customised livelihood solutions for the flood affected families.