Published in June 2026

Sand Dams Worldwide spoke to Jane Benson and Rita Nyamai, members of Ukava Wa Kithoni self-help group (SHG) located in southeast Kenya. Both women hold leadership roles in their group and explain how the sand dam project has been beneficial for themselves and the wider community. 

During prolonged periods of drought, women and children living in drylands can spend up to 12 hours each day journeying across parched scrubland and rocky terrain to collect water from unsafe sources. Jane describes her experience of fetching water before her community’s sand dam project:

“I would get my water from a river that is around 2.5km away and it would take me around 3 hours to collect the water. I would go and fetch water early in the morning, then later during lunch time I would return to the river and sometimes I was forced to do three trips in a day. That was so many hours from my day.”

Since joining the sand dam project both Jane and Rita have seen changes in their lives and taken on leadership positions for Ukava Wa Kithoni SHG. An important part of our programmes is to empower women and work with communities to ensure gender equality is improved. This includes delivering gender equality trainings to all communities and supporting and encouraging women to play an active part in meetings, committees, and in making household decisions.

Rita explains how her active participation has enabled her to make more decisions about farming of the land:

“My biggest achievement is that I have been able to plant mango trees and I look forward to having income from them in the near future.”

Rita Nyamai, member of Ukava Wa Kithoni self-help group, southeast Kenya.

Not only does the ability to grow crops improve with a nearby sand dam, but the capacity to grow a variety of crops also increases. In turn, communities achieve improved nutritional variety and the chance at having a more balanced diet. Jane describes the change:

"As a family our diet has changed. We now eat different types of things whereas before we would probably have the same things every day. We were taught how to preserve the food we grow, for example, I can preserve the leaves from the cowpeas and use these as vegetables. My favourite meals that I make now are the meals I make with cow peas.”

Jane Benson, member of of Ukava Wa Kithoni self-help group, southeast Kenya.

Jane reflects on the sand dam project and how accomplished she feels with better access to clean water. She says:

“I am satisfied with all that we have achieved when I think about it, I see that we have come very far as this group and I have been able to see the fruits of our labour.  We are healthy, we have healthy bodies and we are well!”

Rita shares similar sentiments about the sand dam project:

“Because of the sand dams, we now have enough water for household use and other daily needs. I am proud of this program as it directly improved our living conditions.”

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