“This lady was hesitant about ever drinking water from the Kibisi dam because it was dirty and contaminated. She said it smelled bad also. So when she came to the dam one of her neighbours gave her some purified water to drink teasingly saying it was from Kibisi dam. At first she refused because the water was very clean…she thought it was from another source. She said she had never seen clean water from Kibisi dam for over 50 years she had lived in Kibisi!”, shared our local NGO partner Cleophas from Core Health Wealth with us.

It was a lot of work in the past months. The big tanks that arrived one day in February 2022. The clean up of the damn, all the construction work of the tower. Then the solar pump and panels. And the construction of the water house… but finally, in July this really life changing construction could be inaugurated.

The first lady (wife to the governor) Caroline Wangamati and the Tongaren MP, Dr. Eseli Simiyu, launch the farmers store and the water project. They learned about the MMH initiatives in Bungoma county and greatly appreciated the investments

The facts in short

This project has been implemented under the umbrella of the Making More Health Initiative and the support of our colleagues from the More Green initiative at Boehringer Ingelheim. The project is an important puzzle piece in all the activities taking place there: on health awareness and farming, animal health, digital and business education and income generation activities.

The construction of a water tower with filtering units, the solar pump and the additional second instance filtering through attached Paul water bag packs helps the community to get a much better water quality.

The main water source is the natural kibisi water dam in Bungoma county. Besides the water house close to the tower where people can fetch water, also some very long water tubes – directed to the houses and villages around- were installed, thus allowing the community members to get fresh water much closer to their houses.

In the past, many people walked kilometers to get some water. Now fresh water is not far away from the house and more. “I’m carrying home water the first time from 100 meters from my home – in the past I had to walk. 1,5 km. This will change my whole life,” says this woman.

A special “thank you video” by our local families living around kibisi dam

Recently, I received this video. It is made by some of our local community members who have participated in our MMH digital training sessions in the past weeks. … I got some tears in my eyes when I saw it the first time.

It’s a big thank you to us showing how the water project has developed.

It’s simply true: Shared happiness is double happiness! Watch the Video yourself!