Published in April 2026

For parents, raising children whilst maintaining a household can already be demanding, without the added stress of experiencing water scarcity. We spoke to two parents in Machakos County, Kenya who gave us insight into their lives as parents in an arid region, where communities suffer from lack of clean water sources and prolonged droughts, and how they hope their lives, and the lives of their children will develop now that a nearby sand dam has been constructed.

Mirriam Muli, 40-years-old, and Peter Kioko, 39-years-old, are members of the Vinya Wa Ngethwa self-help group (SHG) in Ngethwa Village. They are both parents, farmers and hold various responsibilities in their households, and as such, they have many similar experiences to share about what life looked like without a sand dam, and their hopes after the construction of one by their community.

Regarding becoming a member of Vinya Wa Ngethwa in 2020, Peter says:

“The main reason I joined is so that we, as a community, can combine our efforts and work on a solution to the water crisis in our locality.”

Peter Kioko, member of Vinya Wa Ngethwa self-help group, in southeast Kenya.

For many rural communities in Machakos County, their existing water source, usually scoop holes in distant riverbeds, is unreliable, limited, unclean and many kilometres away. Peter describes this journey for us:

“Trekking for long distances to get water means my core duties in my family are largely neglected. I would leave my shamba (plot) unattended too, for long periods. Each day I would prepare for a 7 kilometre walk to the River Miu. I would wake up early to beat the scorching sun at around 6am. The water would never be enough and sometimes it was very dirty. I would then return home past midday.”

Mirriam shares similar sentiments to Peter, stating that as a mother and woman in her household, a lot of her time is dedicated to the retrieval of water (as is typical for women in dryland communities):

“I have a lot to take care of as a mother, water being the bigger part of the daily tasks here at home. Depending on the water needs at the household I would wake up most of the times at 6am to plan the day. I would quickly prepare my children for school. I would then prepare my jerrycans and load my donkey for a long trek to the River Miu. At other times we would fetch water at River Mutangwa which is a seasonal river that only has water for a few weeks after the rains. On my way, I would meet many other women and girls going to the same water source. It would take around three hours to fetch water.”

The long and arduous journeys for both Peter and Mirriam were unsustainable for many different reasons including the health implications, the investment of time, the poor farming outcomes (due to lack of water and time to farm) and the impact on their children. Peter explains:

“My children and I would experience different kinds of sicknesses and stomach issues from time to time. Whenever my children drank that water from the river without treating it, they could fall sick and need a trip to the hospital immediately. My children once failed to attend school because they had stomach problems due to drinking dirty water.”

This is why a sand dam as a solution to these problems was an important one, and one that the whole community was excited to work towards with the support of Sand Dams Worldwide (SDW) and our southeast Kenyan partner, the Africa Sand Dam Foundation (ASDF).

With the transformative impact from the sand dam and its provision of clean water, Mirriam now describes her plans of developing her farmland and her farming skills following workshops that ASDF held, covering topics such as seed planting, terracing and other climate-smart agricultural practices to ensure the best harvest outcomes.

“I look forward to growing more vegetables starting from my kitchen garden and tree planting. I want to grow spinach, kales and tomatoes. I’ve also set myself a target of growing 200 trees per year. These will be orange, mango, papaya and pixie tangerine trees.”

Mirriam Muli, member of Vinya Wa Ngethwa self-help group, in southeast Kenya.

And the impact of the sand dam goes beyond restoring their land and improving farming, as both parents hope, with the increased prospect of selling their surplus crops, that they will be able to increase their incomes and better their livelihoods. Peter says:

“I see myself making 8,000 Kenyan Shillings (around £46) per month which I will be using to pay for my children’s school fees and for the upkeep of my family.”

When asked to imagine life far into the future with a sand dam, Mirriam hopes to leave a lasting legacy:

“Future generations will not suffer looking for water the same way I did when I was a young woman.”

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Please donate what you can and help to empower vulnerable women and girls in drylands to transform their own lives with sand dams and clean water