Karibu! Welcome!

Since 2004, EWB@ MSU's professional and student volunteers have worked with community members in Khwisero, Kenya to provide water and sanitation infrastructure at the district's 58 primary schools, making it easier for Khwisero's children to avoid waterborne disease and get an education.

In that time, the group has grown from a small club to one of MSU's premier student organizations, raising hundreds of thousands of dollars to fund seven borehole wells, six composting latrines and a biogas latrine that serve thousands of community members.

Thank you for joining us as we continue to work hand-in-hand with local partners to make a difference in one small part of our world. As Western Kenya's limited internet access allows, we will update this blog while in-country with the successes, stories and lessons provided by our work.

Wednesday, July 16, 2008

Team one has made it to Khwisero!

Chris and Adam arrived on the 4th and met with the Kenya Team (Ronald, Francis, and Maurice, among others) to finish preparations for the arrival of the rest of the teams, and the remainder of Team 1 (Annie, Jon, Griffin) arrived in Khwisero on the 15th.

On the 17th, the group will be meeting with the headmasters of the 57 primary schools in Khwisero to discuss many important things, including the details of the work we are doing this summer, the application process and expectations for work at future schools, and the maintenance of the work done so far.

They have started conversations with community members about translators and focus group leaders for the surveys. Many teachers have expressed an interest in participating.
Adam and Annie are currently determining the appropriate sample numbers and sample areas for the household surveys.
Jon and Griffin are working on designs for the handwashing apparatus (the tippy-tap) and making contacts for procurement of materials for the composting latrines.
Chris has been working with Francis and Ronald to finalize the contracts with the drillers.
Maurice has been doing drafting work for the composting latrine design modifications.

Things are going great so far!
Check back again soon for more updates.

1 comment:

Jj Larsen said...

Way to go Team! This is a great idea for people in Kenya and people at home. I hope we are letting the rest of the group (non-traveling members) in on this. I look forward to arriving in Kenya next month and keep the updates coming.

Jj