Meet Bertha Juma, Technical Officer in Kenya

Bertha specialises in Water and Environmental Engineering and holds a Master of Arts degree in Project Planning and Management from the University of Nairobi. She has experience managing WASH construction projects across Kenya and joined Dig Deep in January 2016 as the WASH Technical Officer to lead in the construction management and procurement of resources. 

We asked Bertha to tell us about her work and how it impacts the lives of women and girls

I joined DD as the Technical Officer to make a contribution towards providing sustainable solutions to community through promoting appropriate technologies in Water and Sanitation. 

I work to enhance the lives of men, Women and Children by ensuring they have access to clean water and safe environment in our community. This is through overseeing WASH infrastructure from designing the structure, supervising the construction and training on Operation and Maintenance for sustainability. In addressing gender issues within the program we ensure equal representation of women at the community level; thus, ensuring that women are selected to hold key positions in the water committee for them to have a voice in the water projects. 

I also ensure, facilities that are girl’s friendly by ensuring girls latrine have a privacy wall with shower that gives them privacy and dignity during their menstruation. In addition, it thrilling to oversee the construction of low cost incinerators that address the issue of safe disposal for sanitary towels and gives the latrines a longer lifespan. It’s exciting to be part of the evolution in the women’s lives to make their lives better. 

My highlights in my work with Dig Deep is to see how the organisation recognizes the role of women in WASH sector and giving them equal opportunities in accessing contracts for the construction of School WASH facilities, women accessing safe water and girls dignity enhanced in schools.

Meet Rose Kendagor, our Project Officer in Kenya

Rose Kendagor running one of our hygiene training sessions

Rose has a background in Public Health and holds a Masters in Public Health (MPH) from James Grant School of Public Health in Bangladesh. She has over ten years experience in programme and research related work, with a particular focus on WASH projects, and has worked with various international NGO's in Kenya. Rose joined Dig Deep in January 2016 as Project Officer, and will focus on the implementation of our hygiene promotion activities and training. 

We asked Rose to tell us about her work and why she decided to join Dig Deep. 

Diarrhoea continues to be one of the major killer diseases of children under-five in rural and marginalized areas of Kenya. Lack of awareness and knowledge, poor attitudes and behaviours towards key hygiene practices are some of the risks to the continued prevalence of the disease. 

Creating awareness on the links between disease and poor WASH practices has been the core of my work as a result making a contribution to the achievements of SDG 6 that aims to ensure availability and sustainable management and water and sanitation for all. 

Investing in WASH champions through capacity building in Hygiene Promotion Programs has been my KEY area of interest and focus. This fits within one of DD objectives that ‘taps and toilets don’t improve health and education only using them effectively does.” I joined DD as a project Officer and my role involves designing of training guides and development of IEC materials targeting specific contexts and audiences. These materials improve the knowledge, promote adoption of good hygiene behaviours and empower the target groups as change agents within their communities.  

With improved hygiene practices there is reduction in diarrhoea disease cases which result to time saving for women who are often responsible for caring of sick children and family members, improved education outcomes for children and saving of household incomes. Time saved by women is allocated for other productive activities within the households. 

What I’m proud of is increased awareness and knowledge on Hygiene and Sanitation which contributes to behaviour change and adoption of good hygiene practices .

Meet Caroline, Dig Deep's Country Manager in Kenya

Caroline has a background in development communication and community development from St Paul's University in Nairobi. She has extensive experience managing water and sanitation programmes across Kenya, working with various international NGO's before joining Dig Deep as the Country WASH (Water, Sanitation, Hygiene) Manager in 2014. She works with local partners and stakeholders to coordinate all of our water, sanitation and hygiene interventions. 

We asked Carol to tell us about her work, her motivations and what aspect of her work she is most proud of

Women, children and girls are often the primary users, collectors and mangers of water in their household and they are the ones responsible for maintenance of proper hygiene within the households. The same group are the ones that are affected disproportionately by lack of safe water, adequate sanitation and improved Hygiene. Working in programs that focuses on addressing these needs particularly within rural marginalized areas has been an inspiration. 

Dig Deep's vision to break the cycle of poverty through water and sanitation fitted with my personal inspiration, and I joined Dig Deep team as a Country Manager in 2014. In my role, I oversee the development and implementation of WASH programmes by ensuring they meet their objectives within the given timeframes.

In my position I contribute towards the influence of policies and decision making related to School WASH at county and national levels, for example our work including menstrual hygiene management training as part of our WASH programs, a component that has been widely neglected. In addition I build and strengthen new and existing partner relationships. 

Over the years, working with Dig Deep I have seen the change in lives of many girls through comprehensive MHM in schools program among adolescence girls which has resulted in retention of girls in schools as well as increased enrolment.

The Operation and Maintenance offered to water management groups has enabled women take up leadership roles as well as decision makers, as they are ones affected directly to issues related to water. E.g committees that are being led by women have proved to be very successful. 

International Women's Day 2016

Today is International Women's Day, a day to celebrate the social, economic, cultural and political achievement of women. 

Women community members who benefit from Dig Deep's
work in rural Kenya

To celebrate this, we are going to post a series of blog posts highlighting why women are so central to how we do our work, and then some profiles of the phenomenal women we have working for Dig Deep in Kenya. 

So, first things first. 

Why are women and girls so important to our work?

Women and girls in Kenya are the primary users, collectors and managers of water in their household, and maintaining a hygienic home environment. 

Women and girls tend to take on the responsibility for collecting water for their family. Where the nearest water source is some distance away, the time that it takes to collect the water for their family can take up a large proportion of their day. This is particularly an issue in rural Kenya where we focus our work. These girls and women then miss out on opportunities for education and leisure. 

Women also pay the highest price when there is a lack of safe water, beyond the health repercussions of inadequate sanitation. 

For girls, the lack of safe, separate and private toilets and hand washing facilities in schools can be a huge barrier to school attendance, a situation made worse when the girls are menstruating. Women and girls also tend to be the ones responsible for caring for sick children in the household, again depriving them of the opportunity for education. 

Dig Deep's women centered work

Agnes Pareyio, the first Maasai councillor
and Dig Deep advisor

As women are disproportionately impacted by poor water and sanitation access, it is vital that they are central in our approach to change that. Right from the very beginning, women have been driving our work. We began our first project with the advice and guidance of Agnes Pareyio, the first ever female Maasai councillor. Since then we have ensured that women are pivotal in our work. 

Addressing the needs of women in our programmes

We build latrines and handwashing stations in schools and communities, with separate areas for girls and boys. This has freed up the time of girls who were previously having to spend time travelling to the nearest water point. The separate areas mean that it is easier for girls to attend school while they are menstruating. 

We also run Menstrual Hygiene Management programmes in schools, helping teenage girls ensure adequate hygiene management when they are on their periods. This programme has resulted in more girls enrolling in school, and improved their attendance and retention once they have enrolled. 

Women as agents for change

In addition to addressing the needs of women, women and girls are also central to our community engagement and long term water management. We work closely with communities to ensure that the infrastructure we are putting in is appropriate for the specific community we are working with, and also that they have the structures and skills in place to ensure that maintenance and management of the water and sanitation facilities in the long term. We set up water management groups, which have enabled women to take up leadership roles in their communities, acting as key decision makers. Indeed, the committees that are led by women have proved to be very successful.

We also have a series of remarkable women who work in our Kenya office, leading the development of our programmes.  We will be profiling these women in our next blog posts.