Message from the CEO
Dear Friend,
I hope that this message finds you and your family well in this difficult time of the Covid-19 pandemic. It’s in extraordinary times like these that we are reminded how vulnerable we are as a population. Ironically, it is the smallest things that sometimes cause the biggest damage. The virus that causes Covid-19 is approximately 0.125 microns (that is 100 times smaller than the smallest thing your naked eye can see!) but it has caused unquantifiable damage and significantly altered our way of life.
At Aqua Clara Kenya, we have been fighting such tiny enemies for over ten years now. But still, the reality remains that for many families across Africa, access to safe water is still a big challenge. While the world’s attention is fixed on the Covid-19 pandemic right now, as it should be, let us remember that there are millions dying every year from waterborne diseases that can be prevented by ensuring access to safe drinking water and proper hygiene and sanitation.
I am proud to see the work we’ve done in our communities to train on and provide hand-washing facilities come in handy for many families as a preventative measure towards Covid-19. Even this week, in the lead up to World Water Day on 22nd March, our staff were busy around public offices and market centres erecting new handwashing stations and training community members on handwashing. We are committed to being useful in this period of much need and anxiety. But we are also committed to staying safe and being responsible towards those around us and the communities we serve. As such, we have immediately stopped our field activities such as WASHiriki, School WASH and field monitoring. Our two offices in Nairobi and Kisii will be closed from this week, with many of our staff working from home. We are however going to continue doing the most that we can to support our communities where we are needed.
I encourage you to stay safe and adhere to WHO recommendations so that together we can put this pandemic behind us. All the best to you and your family.
Yours sincerely,
John Nyagwencha
CEO, Aqua Clara Kenya
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Hand-Washing | Pomotion of Hand Washing to Combat Covid-19
In the face of the global pandemic COVID-19, our staff have been busy providing hand-washing facilities and training community members about hand-washing.
In this photo, Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion Officer Irene Murere trains community members on hand-washing at Rigoma Market, at a hand-washing point provided by ACK.
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Feature | Distribution of Household Water Filters in Laikipia County
ACK Staff Benson trains community members in Laikipia County on how to use and maintain the household water filter.
In 2016, Aqua Clara Kenya began a partnership with Kenya Health Care Initiatives (KHCI), a US-based NGO working in Laikipia County. KHCI was founded by Dr. Ralph Stroup and his wife MaryAnn Stroup in 2008 to help improve the public health of the Il Ngwesi Group Ranch. Their projects are community-driven, meaning establishing detailed needs assessments based on a combination of local and governmental input to develop an action plan. KHCI has adopted a comprehensive strategy including infrastructure development and public outreach to improve Maasai pastoralists’ lives.
The partnership saw ACK provide water filters to over 30 schools in the area, providing access to safe drinking water to at least 9,000 students and teachers. With the success of the work done in schools, KHCI has been actively looking for a way to ensure that households in the area also have access to safe drinking water. This is very important because the same students who now have safe water at school are still consuming contaminated water at home.
 
Students in Chumvi and Ethi Schools enjoying safe drinking water from an ACK School Filter thanks to KHCI.
We are therefore excited to support KHCI to launch a household programme in 2020 for Laikipia County. Early this month, we delivered the first batch of 200 water filters. Our staff, Benson Nyandusi and Kelly Ndiku, were on hand to train community members on all aspects of the filter and other related WASH issues.
 
Community members receiving training on how to assemble, use and maintain the household water filters
We are grateful to KHCI for this continued and fruitful partnership. We are already seeing tremendous impact in the II Ngwesi Community and with the addition of the household component, many more families are going to be free from waterborne diseases. This will give them an opportunity to improve their livelihoods, including increasing household income.
 
ARE YOU INTERESTED IN WORKING WITH US?
Do you want to partner with Aqua Clara Kenya to provide Water, Sanitation and Hygiene solutions to the communities you work in? Get in touch with us today via email info@aquaclarakenya.com or call us +254 716 406 687
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HIGHLIGHTS
The 20th AfWA International Congress & Exhibition
The 20th AFWA International Congress & Exhibition took place in Kampala, Uganda from the 24th to 27th of February 2020. ACK was represented by Business Development Manager Sijmen Weesie (Right. At the event, Sijmen took the opportunity to promote ACK to many WASH stakeholders working across Africa.
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Awards
Jeremiah Wins ACGC Top 30 Under 30 Award!
In January this year, the Alberta Council for Global Cooperation (ACGC) awarded new Top 30 Under 30 recipients. We are proud to have our staff, Jeremiah Ouko Magar receive this recognition for his work with Aqua Clara Kenya. Congratulations Jeremiah!
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Our CEO Joins Acumen Fellowship
 We are proud to announce that our CEO, John Nyagwencha, has joined the 2020 cohort of Acumen Fellowship in East Africa.
Acumen is building a pipeline of leaders who understand what it takes to create change in our complex, interconnected world. The Fellows Program is a one-year leadership development program designed to connect and cultivate a pipeline of social changemakers who are committed to tackling poverty and injustice in their communities. Congratulations John!
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PARTNERSHIPS
Customer Check-In | Briton Community School, Mukuru Kwa Njenga, Nairobi
In February, ACK Staff Peter and Kelly dropped in on Saskia from Slum Runners and Briton’s School Manager, Geoffrey (far-right) and teachers Elizaphan and Collins.
In 2016, we were privileged to provide safe water to Briton Community School in Mukuru Kwa Njenga Slum. The school is supported by Slum Runners Foundation an NGO founded by Christina Perkins. The foundation is in the business of uplifting urban slum dwellers living in the poorest conditions. They are currently focused on schools based in slums, starting with Briton Community School. The school is located in the middle of the slum where access to safe water is a major challenge. We are excited to continue working with Slum Runners to provide more peri-urban schools with safe drinking water.
Here's a video of Saskia and Geoffrey talking about the impact safe drinking water has had at their school.
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ECLOF Partnership
We have officially began our partnership with the Micro Finance Institution ECLOF Kenya. Above, our Operations Manager Betty Kerubo makes a presentation to ECLOF staff.
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Stew Martin Visit from Transform International
In February, we were privileged to host our good friend and partner Stewart Martin (RIGHT) from Transform International. Stew shared some good ideas and insights for our School WASH Program and the work we're planning to start in Sanitation.
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P&G Distribution in Bomet, Kericho and Nyamira Counties
This quarter, we have begun distributing P&G purifiers of water through our Community and School WASH Promoters. The P&G solution is provided as a bridge to water filters. Often, community members take 1-2 months after training to get money to acquire our water filters. In the meantime, they struggle to make their water safe for drinking. With the collaboration with P&G, through our partner Transform International, community members and schools can start drinking safe water from Day 1 of interacting with us and transition to the more sustainable water filters when they are ready.
ABOVE Community WASH Promoters receiving a month's supply of P&G sachets for use by community members as they get ready to acquire water filters.
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H2OPE Accelerator
Nyamira County Community WASH Promoters Training
In February, our staff members Irene, Jeremiah and Emma trained 29 Community WASH Promoters (CWPs) & 3 Public Health Officers (PHOs) in Borabu, Nyamira County as part of our WASHiriki Program.
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Bomet County Community WASH Promoters Training
In February, we trained 28 Community WASH Promoters and 1 Public Health Officer in Bomet County.
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Visit by Marike Kuyper from CAWST
In early March, Marike Kuyper, Global Learning Advisor at CAWST, visited our Kisii Office to support the H2OPE Accelerator and School WASH teams with trainings on Behaviour Change and Behaviour Centred Design.
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Monitoring and Evaluation
Training of Carbon Credits Monitoring Enumerators
In early March, our Monitoring, Evaluation and Learning team, with the support of Climate Care's Project Analyst Lillian Kagume (ABOVE) carried out a training of 19 enumerators, who will be deployed to collect data for the annual carbon credits monitoring exercise.
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Our Company
Aqua Clara Kenya is a Social Enterprise whose mission is to increase access to safe drinking water in Africa by building local capacity, providing effective solutions and implementing sustainable approaches.
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