Kenya : 2009-2012
Kenya - Nyakongo Village (Nyando District/Nyanza Province) Kisumu Biosand Water Filter Program (started in December 2009)
Through a partnership formed at the AGS Annual Meeting and WSCSD Students Summit on Sustainability held at ETH Zurich (Switzerland) in February 2009, Mr. Otieno Nickson and Kristina Nelson agreed to plan and undertake a biosand filters water project in Kenya. This was developed as a test case for the African Initiative, a spin-off initiative of the World Student Community for Sustainable Development.
As a follow up to this partnership, Mr. Otieno, assisted by a team of volunteers from the Students for Global Sustainability – University of Nairobi hosted two board members of SWALOW Inc. – Kristina Nelson and Takaya Ono, in a rural village in Kenya, in December, 2009 to do the following:
Train selected local villagers who are committed to the long-term goals of providing safe drinking water for their village and surrounding areas. Training includes biosand filter construction, installation, operation, maintenance, trouble-shooting, design parameters, etc.
Host health and hygiene classes for trainees and villagers
Build and install biosand filters for families who currently drink from unprotected and untreated surface water (i.e. ponds and rivers that are accessed by animals, used for bathing in, etc.)
Set-Up a programme and coordinate with local leaders and health officials for long-term filter building in the area
Between 2009 and 2012, 102 biosand filters were constructed and installed, thereby providing access to clean water to 663 women and children who are affected by HIV.
