Published in May 2025

In March 2025, Sarah Field (SDW Trustee) and I visited six sand dams in Kenya which had been built with the help of Sand Dams Worldwide (previously called Excellent Development) volunteers since 2014. In each case we met with a number of the community members from the original self-help groups (SHG) which had initiated the dams. All of the dams were built under the design and supervision of SDW’s partner in southeast Kenya, the Africa Sand Dam Foundation, ASDF. This report covers our visit to Isunguluni SHG’s sand dam, built in 2015 close to Mtito Andei.

It was great to see the site has matured nicely and clearly the water from the dam has supported local tree and other vegetation growth. Some of the areas beyond the dam were dry (as we visited just before the April rains were due to start) though clearly the land near to the dam is productive and supporting the community to grow food; preparations were well under way for April sowing and planting.

The watercourse for Isunguluni’s sand dam is quite small by today’s standards being no more than about 5m wide, although the dam itself is of course much bigger than that (SDW and ASDF now encourage the building of much larger dams which can provide water for domestic, livestock and farming uses and are much more resilient to drought and other impacts of climate change).

We were joined on site by a number of community members including Peninah Malingi (SHG Chairlady) and Jackson Muthoka (SHG Chairman), both of whom are farmers. They shared with us their experiences of life since the dam was constructed. In short, the dam has made many positive changes - indeed helping the community to transform their own lives.

They told us about water for drinking, cooking, washing and irrigation. Previously the journey to collect water was four hours, and often that water was green and contaminated, causing illness, with insufficient water for cooking and washing, and none for farming.

When speaking about some of the challenges they had faced when collecting water, Peninah said:

“Some [of our children] were [attacked when collecting water] and we had experience of some little girls being impregnated.”

But this appalling problem, like so many others, has gone away since they have had the dam and good-quality water is available so close to home. 

In addition to growing vegetables, Peninah has planted mangos which she now harvests. Both she and Jackson are able to sell excess farming produce, generating an income. Children also have greater access to school “without much challenges because they are not being engaged in the process of fetching water at home or from far distances” said Peninah.

The shallow well just above the dam provides water for at least 4-5 months after the rains, but another well just upstream, which was dug deeper, provides water all-year round.

There were some nice surprises too. Firstly, they felt that the local climate had changed: Jackson said: “We can start to change the climate. It’s green. So the re-greening, you feel it.” Secondly, the river gulley had clearly been a barrier to passage, but now filled with sand it’s easy to walk across. Jackson added that people couldn't pass over the gulley because it was so deep, meaning "if somebody is sick, he or she may die. Because there is no means of transport to reach the (medical) facility.” 

When asked if they had a message for the volunteers who worked with them on the dam in 2015, Jackson said:

“If you were to talk to the expeditioners, you would tell them they did a very good job. Because they came to support us in our journey of looking for water. And through their support, we feel it really gave the community a boost in our life. Because we are now able to live longer, because we have water close to us, and we are more healthy. So we feel that boost gave us a new life."

Here shows footage of Isunguluni's sand dam site:

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