Published in September 2024

I am just a week away from my first ever visit to Kenya, where I’ll be joining our partners, the Africa Sand Dam Foundation (ASDF) and a team of volunteers from Barclays on a sand dam building expedition.

As Fundraiser Manager for Sand Dams Worldwide, I look forward to the experience, witnessing first-hand the problems we are trying to overcome and what it means to build a sand dam. 

As I write this, my thoughts are focused on our preparations, and all the small things I need to get done before leaving the UK. But when I eventually meet with ASDF and join the Uiini self-help group (SHG) in Ngoni, Makueni County, I know my thoughts will quickly turn to the main point of the expedition – the sand dam itself. 

Over the next month or two, this will take impressive shape. Where now there are foundation trenches and piles of sand and stone collected by the local community, in a matter of weeks through everyone’s efforts, they'll have a finished sand dam, complete with its shallow well and hand pump, the first one constructed by the Uiini SHG.

For me and the volunteer expedition team, it will mean 3-4 days of hot, dusty work, but for the community, who have longed for a dependable water source for so many years, the build is the culmination of months of planning and preparation, and the start of many more months of activities designed to make the best use of the water, time, skills and sheer enthusiasm delivered by the dam.

Leaving a gift to the next generation

As with any major project, the reasons for getting involved in a sand dam project are as varied as the people taking part, however a key motivation that community members give is the chance to make a lasting difference to the lives of their children and grandchildren, so that they never again have to endure the relentless daily trek to find water.

“My children and my grandchildren are having the best life now. They can play and study knowing that water is just a five minute walk away. This is a legacy that I have already left, and one day I am sure they’ll recall it and say: ‘Grandma did a wonderful job to make sure that we don’t lack water’”.

Grace Mulili Mukunza, Ngui A self-help group member and sand dam builder, southeast Kenya.

With this gift of water, they know their children and grandchildren’s lives will be transformed in many ways: their kids will be healthier, less tired, and with the added income they can make from better harvests, parents will be able to pay for their children to attend school. 

So, while this trip will make an indelible mark on me and is something I will remember forever, for the community it is a genuinely life changing event and a turning point in their history.

Over the next 7 days, Sand Dams Worldwide is also proud to be taking part in Remember a Charity Week, joining more than 200 other charities to raise awareness of the incredible impact that a gift in your will can make to charitable causes.

Along with major grants and donations (multi-year and individual), legacy gifts are especially important to charities as they help provide certainty around future income, which in turn means we can plan further ahead and with more confidence. We would love it if you could follow us through Remember a Charity Week. To find out more, and to get involved yourself, please do visit our web page here.

A legacy gift is a gift for the future made now and in that respect is not unlike the sand dam Uiini SHG are going to be building alongside our partners ASDF our team of volunteers. An incredible gift, that gives back and gives forward, helping many generations to come.

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Our current appeal: Please donate what you can and help give the lasting gift of sand dams and clean water to the next generation of vulnerable dryland communities