Member Profile: GWAKO-Groundwater Abstractions in Kenya Outreach

Women for Women Project is community based projects of GWAKO that assist women to improve their living conditions through drilling boreholes, latrines construction and Hygiene and sanitation promotion.

The project was initiated on the premise that “the access of safe water and sanitation facilities are human rights and central to the true empowerment of all people in society, and is a key developmental right and poverty reductions. It is a right that should be enjoyed by all members of the community (men, women, boys and girls) in all cultures. It is central to the dignity of all members of society.

G.W.A.KO started by mobilizing and sensitizing the general communities on the need to have safe drinking water. This was followed by helping the villagers on hand digging of shallow water wells within kano plains of Nyanza province. As a result of this initiative by the ladies many people joined in and GWAKO establish a consortium that brought together all interested parties to scale up her water and sanitation activities. Currently GWAKO works with 32 grassroots women groups and other self help groups from all walks of life and faith.

Following massive success on our mobilization GWAKO bought a portable drill LS _ 100 and a year later we got an LS - 200 drill rigs for water well drilling. Our choice for the said equipment was that they are portable and easy to run. We shifted from Hand digging as the formation where we were working was loose and cases of collapse of hand dug wells was common. To date GWAKO has drilled and protected/develop hand dug wells' totaling to 103.

Besides the drilling and hand dug wells development GWAKO is the only implementer of the Household water filtration Biosand water filtration. We train women groups and help them roll the projects within their villages.

GWAKO not only implements the water and sanitation services (Engineering and Constructions) but also acts a mouthpiece for Widow and Girls on rights to keep properties, water and sanitation issues (advocacy platform) and a forum for sharing information.

G.W.A.KO was established in 1998 by a group of three ladies and one man --- who were called by the love of humanity to reach out for MDG's and a follow up of the fourth world conference on women (Beijing 1995). In 2008 we were renamed Groundwater Abstraction in Kenya Outreach (GWAKO) and registered by Kenya Government as a community-based organization. We are an inter-faith, non-political organization whose spiritual foundation guides staffs, members and volunteers of diverse faiths and occupations, most of them professionals with considerable experience, to translate eternal values into practical living through selfless service. This has resulted in wide-ranging development programs (water, and sanitation, health and food security) for the disadvantaged communities (women) and school pupils in Nyanza province in Kenya.

Desires of the pioneers of GWAKO was to provide safe drinking water sources thereby reducing the health issues arising from usage of contaminated water sources and reduce the distance walk by women and girls for water collections.