The WASH department ensures easy access to water, hygiene and proper sanitation in the community. The department has done extensive work in Kisumu county and has also extended its services to Kitui County-Mwingi constituency. Activities in the department include but are not limited to Borehole drilling, pump repair, rehabilitation, and construction of toilets and hand washing facilities. 

Besides, the department also offers sanitation and hygiene talks as well as distribution of  reusable sanitary towels to the young women and girls in the community and the surrounding schools.  

Objectives

• To ensure that the communities have access to safe drinking water.
• To ensure access to handwashing facilities in targeted communities and institutions
• To reduce open defecation in communities through the construction of latrines. 
• To improve menstrual hygiene management among young women and girls in the community by providing reusable sanitary towels and conducting menstrual hygiene education. 

Sub-departments

Borehole drilling

STADA in partnership with Life Water Canada, drills, rehabilitates and repairs boreholes. Drilling of these boreholes is preceded by water sanitation health and hygiene talks with priority given to areas where water is a primary need and there is no water source nearby. We only drill boreholes in public places such as churches, schools, and markets. This we do to ensure there is a sense of ownership by all members of the community, this way they take better care of the boreholes. 

STADA-Kenya has managed to drill 110+  boreholes since the program was initiated. 

Plumbing

The plumbing section deals with the rehabilitation and repair of the broken pumps within the community by fixing  parts of the pump that are either broken or worn out or rehabilitating the borehole by replacing the whole pump and the piping system.

Since inception,  STADA has managed to repair 1,049+ pumps and rehabilitate 166+ Pumps.

Health and hygiene (HH) talks

HH talks are conducted in schools and public areas. The talks serve as a platform to inquire about water sources, waste disposal, personal and communal sanitation and hygiene (toilets and handwashing facilities). Additional areas covered during these activities include menstrual health management, water storage, drilling, repairs and rehabilitation of boreholes, and general environmental conservation. 

So far, STADA has conducted  2000 Health and Hygiene talks in both Kisumu and Kitui counties. 

Latrine Construction

Open defecation is one of the challenges crippling the public health sector since it is responsible for most cases of water-borne diseases. STADA works to curb this challenge by constructing pit latrines, especially in schools. The result is a clean environment with limited fecal contamination.

STADA has managed to construct 7 (seven)  pit latrines in schools within the community. 

Water Tank Distribution and Hand Washing Stations

Hand washing became common during the Covid-19 pandemic, as a way to curb the disease. STADA took it up as a platform to boost sanitation in the affected schools and communities. STADA also provides water tanks to schools to ensure that there is constant water flow in the institutions and public places.  Throughout the implementation period, STADA has managed to construct 7 Handwashing stations, and set up 7 Water tanks in schools and the community.