Mawingu Maternity Ward Rainwater Catchment Project – Kenya

Location
Mawingu Division, Olkalou District, Central Kenya

Community Description
Mawingu is a division consisting of 14,418 people, made up of five separate villages. The average family in Mawingu has 5 to 9 children and 45% of the families have children under the age of 5.

Mawingu Maternity Ward is the only maternity ward in all Mawingu, with the closest other such facility located 2 hours away via car and up to six hours on foot.

Mawingu Maternity Ward delivers up to 100 babies every two weeks. The clinic has done a very good job of raising birthing awareness.

In the past six months, there has been a 20% decrease in home births. This increases the importance of having a healthy safe maternity ward because of the increased number of delivering mothers in the center.

The biggest problem facing Mawingu Maternity Ward is the complete lack of water. Clean water is needed for healthy births, sterilization, drinking water for the mothers and staff, and cleaning the facility.

Since the maternity ward has no way of storing water, the staff is forced to use dirty second-hand towels to aid in the deliveries. This drastically increases infection problems for mothers.

Women who are close to giving birth are requested to bring to the maternity ward 5 liters of water, a week in advance of their ideal birth date due, to the enormous need for water during the actual delivery. This is difficult and very rarely done.

Mawingu is an extremely impoverished village, and no families can afford buckets or jerry cans, and the women usually have no idea when they are about to give birth. Also, the dams are located many kilometers away and it is difficult for very pregnant mothers to walk to fetch water and then walk all the way to the maternity ward.

Project Description
This project is to build a rainwater catchment system to provide water for the Mawingu Maternity Ward.

Under the direction of the New Mawingu Health Center, a 10,000-liter water tank will be purchased and delivered by truck to the maternity ward. A base will be constructed, and the tank will be installed on the stand. Gutters will be placed on the building, and piping will be run to the tank.

Water Charity funds will be used to purchase the tank (with a contribution from the community), which includes a tap and lid, high-grade plastic gutters, and 5-7 bags of cement to make a strong flat base for the water tank.

Six people have already eagerly volunteered to do the labor.

Project Impact
About 2,400 people will benefit from the project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Shailah Bevan

Comments
Access to clean water will decrease infection, hydrate the mothers, and drastically enhance the sanitary conditions in the maternity ward.

Shailah previously completed the Karugutu Primary School Rainwater Catchment Project – Kenya, the Mundi and Gatarawa Primary Schools Latrine Project – Kenya, and the Twins Primary School Rainwater Catchment Project – Kenya.

Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00

Donations Collected to Date
$555.00

Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has been funded through the generosity of the Paul Bechtner Foundation.

We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Shailah Bevan of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Shailah and/or those of other PCVs in the country of service.

This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.