Deliverance of a Purified Sustainable Water System to the Hope Children's Home in Meru, Kenya

Hope Children’s Fund is an orphanage in Meru, Kenya that houses approximately 100 children affected by poverty.  Contaminated water is a leading cause of gastrointestinal illness, amebiasis, typhoid, hepatitis A, giardiasis, and helminthiasis(worms) in this region of Kenya.  With the help of specialists in the field of public health, internal medicine, pharmaceuticals, and water engineering, a unique water purification system was designed with the intent of not just serving as one project, but as a concept that can be applied and replicated. Thorough assessment and planning was done throughout every step of this project in preparation for implementation. Water access was addressed by incorporating a gutter system to harvest rain water to the first out of three water tanks in addition to support an inlet from the community water source that will be turned on during droughts. To address purification this design involves a sand filtration system, chlorine filter, and aluminum sulfate for flocculation. Water is pumped through this system up to the final holding tank by means of a solar powered pump. Supplies, equipment and labor were purchased locally, in Meru.  Involving community members throughout every step of planning, assessment and implementation has been a key factor to success. Children and residents have seen the hard work and funding that has gone into this project and are proud that such an advanced purification system was designed for them to maintain. This project may serve as a model for rural water systems in low income nations.

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Learning Areas:

Diversity and culture
Implementation of health education strategies, interventions and programs
Program planning

Learning Objectives:
Identify water-borne disease and estimate the health risk of current residents. Compare water quality before and after purification. Explain how this purification system addresses sustainable water transport, storage and purification. Discuss and evaluate how community engagement is a key part of project sustainability. Discuss barriers and resolutions that arise from planning and evaluation through implementation.

Presenting author's disclosure statement:

Qualified on the content I am responsible for because: My current research includes homelessness, aging and disease prevention. I will be completing a Master of Public Health degree in May 2015 at Nova Southeastern University. I have spent an accumulation of three months in this region of Kenya.
Any relevant financial relationships? No

I agree to comply with the American Public Health Association Conflict of Interest and Commercial Support Guidelines, and to disclose to the participants any off-label or experimental uses of a commercial product or service discussed in my presentation.

Back to: 5009.0: International/Global Health Poster Session