An Assessment Of Water Availability And Community Health; A Case Study Of Garrissa District, Kenya

ABSTRACT This dissertation presents the findings of the research conducted in Garissa District. It describes the effects of water availability on community health with the objectives of the study as; to identify the water sources, problems associated with water availability and what can be done to ensure that water is always available and that it has little impact on the productivity of part or whole community. Achieving these objectives would help increase the number of water sources in this community and therefore availability; reduced time spent in water source to fetch water and the diseases associated with water availability. Thereby improved participation of the community members in productive work and more children attaining education with little or no disturbance from water related causes. The methods that were used in data collection included; a sample of about lOOrespondents being chosen and both stratified and purposive sampling techniques used in soliciting responses by means of research instruments such as interview guide, questionnaires and observation for households, stakeholders in the water sector and the researcher respectively. Data processing and analysis were used to extract meaningful information from the raw data obtained from the field. It was identified that the largest percentage of people that are affected by the burden of water are women and children. This is known to affect their life in terms of disease prevalence impacting greatly on their productive potential especially and it affects school going children’s study time. Therefore, there is need for the administration in the district of Garissa to ensure that her communities are sensitized on issues of water availability and water source maintenance, the laws and policies on water are initiated, more water sources are introduced to reduce the distance that women and children travel to fetch water and hence reduced time spent on the queues waiting for water and lowering disease burden.