SWECF Kenya Sand Dam Project 2020

Hi my name is Charles Hughes and I am the Chairman of an organisation in Mwingi Kenya known as Soil, Water & Environment Conservation Foundation (SWECF). We are a small organisation founded by my colleague Victor Mutunga, a Water Resources Engineer from Mwingi. In much of Northern and Eastern Kenya, due to the aridity of the climate, water resources are often extremely stressed and obtaining a secure and sustainable supply is extremely difficult for rural communities.  Victor decided that with his expertise he wanted to support a number of water and environment projects across the region in order to empower these communities.  To date,SWECF has produced a number of water related projects that include the development of sand dams, shallow wells and rock catchments. We have also helped develop other environmental programmes such as afforestation projects to help maintain water supplies, assist with agricultural production and combat the negative impacts of climate change. 

Any funds that are raised will go to hydrological surveys including any water quality testing, construction of boreholes/wells and construction materials for sand dams. Any funding will help support this organisation in planning and developing different projects. Typically the most costly projects are the larger scale sand dams. However, we appreciate any funding that we can source to help get this project underway in order to benefit the rural communities that will be using them. Water sources are often very far from these communities and the burden of obtaining water is typically handed down to the female children of the family. This means that some children will walk up to 20 km for each trip and run the risk of being abused or exploited due to their vulnerabilities.  Not only do these projects provide safer and securer sources of water supply they also help benefit the wider environment. Due to the climatic conditions and the seasonal nature of many rivers in the region it is important that communities can capture this water into storage. That's why sand dams are a great method of creating an artificial underground storage reservoir (like a man-made aquifer) in the sand in order to store the seasonal water flows and thus enable development of wells or pumps into this source. Borehole development also allows direct access into groundwater supplies in the region. This means that people can have a more direct supply and tap into the groundwater sources that provide longer term security. 

We are hoping to obtain funds as soon as possible to get our next sand dam project underway and to gain further partnerships for future projects. However, this is a long term vision for the organisation to have enough consistent funding in order to deliver a number of projects across the regions.  SWECF Kenya are grateful for any funds that we can gain, with your help many of these incredible projects will be achieved. This money goes direct to the organisation, there is no middle man or charity, and thus you are truly seeing the impact of your donations. For this campaign we are raising funds for our next planned sand dam project in Kitui County, Kenya. We are working alongside Kavuvu Self Help Group who will assist with obtaining local materials and with work labour. We are hoping to raise £2000 for the design and construction of the sand dam. We will keep you all updated on our social and professional media platforms with this project and future projects we have planned. 

SWECF Kenya  have a LinkedIn, Instagram and Facebook page @swecfkenya. I would like to personally thank you for your support and if you have any further questions or want to know any more details please feel free to contact me. Lets help create a secure and sustainable future for the communities who need it most!