FAQs

Students at Shirali

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Who is involved in Engineers Without Borders at MSU?

Who are your partners?

Ronald Omyonga, architect in Nairobi, Kenya
Francis Ashira, businessman in Khwisero Township, Kenya
Jackson (Jack) Nashitsaka, school headmaster in Shirali, Kenya

Who are your clients?

Students, their families, and communities that exist in proximity to 57 primary schools in Kenya’s Khwisero Division. The original scope of the project, which the MSU chapter accepted in 2004, was to include 56 schools and to benefit an estimated 6,720 people. The two schools that have been initial project sites serve approximately 1,000 students combined, 400 at Munyanza and 600 at Shirali.

How did the project start?

In 2004, Khwisero natives, Ronald Omyonga and Francis Ashira contacted EWB-USA with the vision of clean water for their region that we now share. Ronald and Francis became catalysts for change in their region. These two men asked EWB-USA to help build a well and a composting latrine in each school.

A well serves as a watershed for further development. Implementing wells at each school simultaneously provides cleaner water and means children spend more hours in school. Furthermore, most schools are nearer than the natural water sources, saving the women and children time in collecting water. Potentially, wells at schools can reduce gender educational inequity, help empower women and girls, and catalyze better living standards. Tangibly and immediately, they provide cleaner, more accessible water. Working with our Kenyan counterparts, we use basic designs, simple technology, and local materials and labor. This cooperation ensures that maintenance is easily available within the community and by the community. The combination of all these factors will ideally lead to community-initiated and completed projects without the assistance of outside organizations—the essence of sustainability.

Where is EWB at MSU working?

Kenya: eastern edge of Africa bordering the Indian Ocean, Somalia, Ethiopia, Sudan, Uganda, Lake Victoria, and Tanzania

Khwisero Division: rural, yet densely populated region in the Butere-Mumias District of Western Province, Kenya. It is about an hour's drive north of Lake Victoria and Kenya's third largest city, Kisumu. North of Khwisero is the town of Kakamega, which is where the Western Province's government offices are located. Khwisero Township and Kakmega are in the Butere-Mumias district and are generally included in common country maps. Khwisero Township represents a rural district as well as a marketplace and town center.
The entire Khwisero Division is 143 square kilometers in size and home to approximately 100,000 people.

What are the most pressing problems or deficiencies?

The following pressing problems and deficiencies led a member of the Khwisero community to request assistance from Engineers Without Borders:  The 57 primary schools in Khwisero Division lack proper sanitary facilities and potable water. The surrounding communities and students travel more than 5 km to the water points to collect unsanitary water. The lack of toilets in schools has resulted in many waterborne diseases and in some cases deaths due to students falling in pit latrines.

What will the impact of the work be?

When Kenyans and Montanans have found ways to solve the pressing problems described above, the impact will be that students, usually girls, will no longer spend 1 to 2 hours each day hauling water for their schools and households. Over the course of a school year, girls lose 50,000 hours of class time per school. Sanitary latrines and handwashing stations will further reduce diseases and missed class time. As an added bonus, if the latrines work as planned, the community can use composted waste to amend the typically infertile soil.

What has EWB at MSU accomplished to date?

What’s next?

How much does all of this work cost?

Water System: 1 well with hand pump

  • Borehole and casing
  • Hand pump


$12,500
$1,500

Composting Latrines: 10 latrines

  • local materials and labor


$5,000

Student Consultants: 5 people travel to Khwisero and work onsite

  • 1 well/drill rig coordinator
  • 1 construction supervisor
  • 2 health / education surveyors
  • 1 community contact coordinator


$1,200
$1,200
$2,400
$1,200

Sanitation Sponsor

  • Buy materials for a latrine. Help reduce the spread of disease at a school.
$500

Safiri (Travel) Sponsor

  • Get a student there. Students still pay $200+ for their own plane ticket plus other travel expenses such as passport, immunizations, etc.
$1,000

Maji (Water) Sponsor

  • Help pay for clean drinking water at a school, giving girls a better education by allowing them to spend more time in school and less time fetching water for their classmates.
$5,000

Kisima (Well) Sponsor

  • Provide the funds required to install one deep water well.
 $15,000

Chuo (School) Sponsor

  • Sponsor a school. Provide an entire school (approximately 500 children) with clean drinking water, adequate sanitary facilities.
 $25,000

We want to tell you more about our project. Contact us via e-mail or by phone (406-994-7156) if you would like us to present at your business or foundation.

How else can I help?

Join our team of students and professionals and help us help Khwisero. Come meet us at one of our meetings or events, or contact us for more information. Call us at 406-994-7156 or send us an e-mail.
Take a look at our calendar.