Former Projects

Bondo, Kenya

EWB USA – Hope College Chapter partnered with the community of Bondo, Kenya, from 2014 to 2021. The Bondo community is located in southwest Kenya and consists of approximately 600 people who, prior to partnering with the EWB USA-Hope College Chapter, did not have access to a clean, reliable and a geographically central water source.

The sources available within the community boundaries were seasonal surface pits, which are contaminated due to exposure to livestock. During dry seasons, when surface pits dried up, Bondo community members were required to travel outside of the community to obtain clean water from deep groundwater wells, which on average took one to two hours round-trip.

Three drilled wells were installed in Bondo between May 2017 and March 2020, servicing approximately 600 people. The wells are 60-meter-deep bedrock wells and are operated by AFRIDEV hand pumps at the surface.

A rainwater catchment system was installed in May 2017 at a local church/school compound. The system was designed to hold up to 10,000 liters of water, making it a viable source of water for the church/school during the dry season.

Bondo community members are now using the wells and rainwater catchment system that were installed through the partnership created between EWB USA – Hope College Chapter and the Bondo Community Water Council. Operation and maintenance of these systems has been responsibly coordinated by the community and is supported through their fund collection program.

Nkuv, Cameroon

EWB USA – Hope College Chapter partnered with the community of Nkuv from 2006 to 2013. This community of approximately 500 had a surplus of water within their boundaries; however, the water source was contaminated with fecal coliforms due to improper usage upstream of the community. The Hope College chapter worked with the community to install bio-sand filters at small groups of homes, as well as water diversion and piping system to make water more accessible to the community members.