Published in September 2025

Last month I reported from Muka’s sand dam, looking at the impact since the dam’s construction in 2020. This month, for my final report in this ‘before and after’ series, I share highlights from revisiting two sand dams built by Kyekuyu self-help group (SHG) with the support of SDW, our partners the Africa Sand Dam Foundation (ASDF) and two fantastic groups of expedition volunteers. 

Our final visit was to two sand dams constructed by the same SHG and their community (Kyekuyu), one in 2018 and the other in 2019, each with the help of volunteers. I took part in the construction of both of these dams as expedition team leader and have had the pleasure of revisiting the sites in recent years to see the transformation that has taken place. In March this year Sarah Field (SDW Trustee) and I spent a day on the two dams, meeting with two sets of Kyekuyu community members to hear about their experiences. Again, it was great to reconnect with friends I’d made during the construction period.

Kyekuyu’s 2018 sand dam was constructed with volunteers from Barclays Isle of Man. This dam is now fully mature (full of sand and water) and in 2025 it’s quite hard to recognise it from 2018 as the changes are so profound, the most obvious of which is the natural vegetation surrounding the dam. See below:

We met with seven community members benefiting from the dam including Jackson Molo who joined Kyekuyu 10 years ago. He is a local farmer who also works in Nairobi. Before the dam, he says there was no water available. He’s says:

“In 2010 this place was very dry, with very few trees. Now, the microclimate has totally changed, partly because of the sand dam and also because we have championed plant usage."

Another younger farmer joins in at this point and speaks about the previous struggles trying to access water from scoop holes in faraway riverbeds: “I can remember when there was no sand dam there was no water available. We could dig deep for water but it was not enough. Some people would come but then have to go home and wait for the next day for the water to come again.” They both described how people would queue for water from 3am and how vulnerable they were during this period, as well as the danger posed to both people and livestock by the depth of the holes.

We discussed the other changes since the dam was built, including food security, health and education. While children used to play a major part in collecting water and consequently missed school, now, Jackson says: “They wake up, they wash, they go to school, they eat, they come back. So they’re clean and they’re healthy and they’re able to achieve more at school because it’s hard to concentrate when you haven’t had a drink and you maybe get a headache.”

Because Jackson is able to irrigate his farmland with water from the dam, he employs over a dozen local people. He also described other crops including avocados, mangoes, figs and sunflowers, and the importance of beekeeping both in terms of honey production and pollination of crops. Their income from these sources seemed substantial.

And a message for the 2018 expedition volunteers? Jackson says: “I think there is no better example of the lives they have changed than this village… We can only say thank you.”

Kyekuyu’s second sand dam was built in 2019 with the help of volunteers from Jersey (as part of the Jersey Overseas Aid Community Works Project 2019). This dam is now nearly mature and a solar powered pumping system has recently been installed. Here we met with the Chairman of the SHG, Muoki Mzioka, who described how they had been inspired to start building their sand dams by seeing what other communities had achieved nearby, overcoming the huge challenges they faced due to lack of water. He says: “The walk [to fetch water] was very irritating and hostile… that was very tiring, taking from 8am to 4pm.”

The vice-chair, Rose Wambua (pictured right), then described how she would go for water as her first activity, returning at 11am when she would look for fodder for her livestock before going to the market to buy food. Although her children went to school she was unable to take food for them so they went hungry. One community member had lost his life from a snake bite having walked at night to collect water. 

Since the dams, though, all these things have changed, and since 2019 the community say they have had no cases of cholera because their water is clean. They are able to produce vegetables beyond their own needs, selling the excess in the local town, Tawa. The SHG created their own rule that each member had to have at least 50 trees, though they now all have more than that and they currently have over 5,000 seedlings. The dam has provided access to ample water since 2020, giving the community confidence to continue to expand their vegetable farming, which was very evident during our visit.

As with other sites we visited, the community members are convinced that the local climate has changed. Muoki says: “Initially there was no vegetation, now it looks more green and also the place looks more serene. There is a new breeze, people feel that the area is more fresh.” See here before and after photos of Kyekuyu's 2019 sand dam:

We asked the Chairman if he had a message for the volunteers who worked with them on the 2019 sand dam, and I’ll quote him in full:

“Go and greet them, tell them we are proud of them and their support, and that’s all we need. We are happy to achieve our goals… We are clean, healthier than before. We really miss them (the volunteers). I would like to say that no matter what happens we will always be here. And we will help others in the future."

Muoki Mzioka, Chairman of Kyekuyu self-help group, southeast Kenya.

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