RC Karura Brings Water Tanks to The Women of Gwaasi South

By Najar Nyakio Munyinyi

The story of the Sokoni water and sanitation project follows the trials and tribulations of the women of Gwaasi South in Kenya’s Homa Bay County. The women formed a group known as Sokoni, named after the area, with the aim of empowering themselves.

Divided into chapters which demarcate the area, Sokoni Womens’ Group has various micro-finance programs. All the programs are dependent on their first need – that of owning a water tank – and here is where our story truly begins.

In Gwaasi, there is no piped water from both the county administration and the national government. No plumbing at all. To get water, women from each household have to walk to Lake Victoria, four to eight kilometres away, wade in, fill their containers with dirty water and then carry it back home, yes – on their heads. Water for drinking, water for cooking, water for bathing, water for laundry, water for personal hygiene and water for the pit-drop latrines.

This water collection continues for the better half of the day. Sometimes a few women take up to three trips in a single morning. Then the next day, they have to go back for that day’s water. This has always been the women’s duty and routine, to fetch water.

The water collected from the lake is filthy and as a result, disease is rampant, especially among babies and children aged between one to five years of age. The infant mortality rate is more than 60% in about 90% of homes that had no access to clean water.

The formation of the Sokoni Women’s Group was a life-saving idea based on the understanding that each woman would raise a quarter of the funds required to install a water tank in her homestead, with the rest being matched by various funders. On this particular sweltering Saturday morning, members of the Rotary Club of Karura were meeting with members of the Sokoni Women’s Group – which we did under the shade of a guava tree at the chief’s camp. The irony was that at the end of the meeting, the chief himself asked for a donation of a water tank, because he didn’t have one.

The women were in two groups, those who had benefitted and received a water tank, and those on the waiting list yet to receive tanks. Why a waiting list? This particular project is never ending. The number of families that need a water tank is constantly growing – every other month, a new wife begins a new home – and she requires her own water tank. It is either that or she begins the daily journey of going to fetch water from the lake. Water tanks are very expensive, so many women sign up to join the group and acquire a tank at a subsidised cost.
The women came, they spoke, danced, laughed and sang in their beautiful strong voices. Women of all ages ranging from their 20s to their 60s, praising Sokoni and Rotary, telling stories of how the project has changed their lives.

One of the Sokoni water tank beneficiaries narrated how, when her tank filled to the brim and then burst, she collapsed in shock and was hospitalised for a week. An older woman narrated that her head had a hollow at the top of the skull because of carrying water containers for many years. One of the spouses said that had it not been for his wife receiving a tank, she would be very frail and most likely sick and bent.
The Rotarians task was commissioning, evaluation of logistics and kicking off phase one of the project. Logistics included discussing which households would receive water tanks, the types of tanks to be supplied, transporting the tanks and requirements of initial preparation such as laying the foundation for the tanks, cleaning the roofs and installing gutters.

Equally important is building shelters for the tanks because they would be left out in the hot Gwaasi sun that expands them and then when it rained and the tanks filled, some would burst apart at the seams.

In December 2024, Rotary Club of Karura returned to Gwaasi for phase two of the project, distributing 13 tanks of 10,000 litres each. There are hundreds more women and families both in Sokoni and in the surrounding areas who desperately need water tanks. This is the story of Gwaasi women, fetching dirty, untreated water from Lake Victoria.

The need is great, many more tanks are required. It is our hope that as you read about the women of Gwaasi South, you will consider donating or sponsoring a tank or two. Or even 10, to this ongoing water and sanitation project.