A Year Later: Eregi Mixed Primary School

A year ago, your generous donation enabled us to construct a rainwater catchment tank for Eregi Mixed Primary School in Kenya. The contributions of incredible monthly donors and others giving directly to The Water Promise allow our local teams to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the water project over time. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – and we’re excited to share this one from local team member Joan Were with you.

"We are very grateful for having a 50,000-liter water tank constructed in our school," Deputy Headteacher Alex Shikokoti said to us when we visited the school.

"Before that, our pupils would go to a spring that is far and waste a lot of time on the way. Sometimes classtime would be wasted and this affected their performance. All these are now issues of the past because water is readily available for our pupils."

Deputy Headteacher Alex Shikokoti

The school has noted a measurable reduction in diarrhea and other waterborne diseases thanks to the improved availability of safe drinking water from the tank, alongside our interventions that promoted handwashing and more latrines.

A year later, students spend less time out of class fetching water and less time out of school due to illness.

Construction of the tank is only one step along the journey toward sustainable access to clean water. The Water Project is committed to consistent monitoring of each water source. Our monitoring and evaluation program, made possible by donors like you, allows us to maintain our relationships with communities by visiting up to 4 times each year to ensure that the water points are safe and reliable.

This is just one of the many ways that we monitor projects and communicate with you. Additionally, you can always check the functionality status and our project map to see how all of our water points are performing, based on our consistent monitoring data.

One project is just a drop in the bucket towards ending the global water crisis, but the ripple effects of this project are truly astounding. This tank in Eregi Mixed Primary School is changing many lives.

"Before this tank was constructed, we used to fetch water from a low-yielding spring. The water would get dirty during the rainy season and this would affect our health," 12-year-old Franklin Kiwanuka said.

Franklin Kiwanuka

"Pupils suffered from typhoid and bilharzia. Most times we would miss our morning remedial classes because cleaning the toilets and classrooms would take a lot of time."

With the new tank and latrines, that is no longer the case for Franklin and his peers.

This is only possible because of the web of support and trust built between The Water Project, our local teams, the community, and you. We are excited to stay in touch with this community and support their journey with safe water.

Read more about The Water Promise and how you can help.