A Year Later: Lukala Primary School

A year ago, generous donors helped rehabilitate a well with Lukala Primary School in Western Kenya. Because of these gifts and contributions from our monthly donors, partners can visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the actual water project. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – we’re excited to share this one from our partner, Paul Weringa with you.

With clean water, academic performance has improved. Students spend their time in school, not out searching for water. Pupils are able to concentrate on their studies without distractions.

The availability of water on school grounds has also enabled the school to stabilize their lunch program, wherein standard seven and eight students eat lunch on campus, allowing them even more time to study.

Paul Weringa speaking with Mr. Jackson Saya about what he's witnessed over the past year.

We met Senior Teacher Jackson Saya at the well to talk about how having clean water has affected himself and his students. "Initially, the pupils did not attend their morning lessons because of being out looking for water from the springs and rivers that are far from the school. The rehabilitation of the project has since saved time for pupils. This has also helped teachers cover the syllabus on time because the children are found in class during morning hours. When the syllabus is covered on time, academic performance is also improved.

The level of waterborne disease outbreak has decreased drastically. Typhoid was the main disease that affected pupils before clean water. Latrines are now washed frequently because of the availability of water. This was difficult before when water was scarce. The school is now able to carry out construction projects because there is enough water to do so."

More classrooms were under construction during our visit.

18-year-old Joshua Mukoya said, "The project has helped me concentrate on my books. Initially, I would spend much of my morning hours looking for water. I wasted three hours every day out of class. The latrines and classrooms could sit for three or four days unwashed. Nowadays, we do our cleaning frequently.

Using water from the springs caused stomachaches among pupils. We have no more stomach pains since the project was rehabilitated! Most of the pupils do not have spoons to use; so for lunch time, we'd use our dirty hands since there was no water for washing hands before eating. Today, we have enough water to wash our hands every time we want to have our meals, after eating and after visiting the latrine.

Water from this project is safe for drinking because it’s always treated and therefore we have no doubts of getting ill because we have a safe source in school!"

The Water Project and our partners are committed to consistent monitoring of each water source. Our monitoring and evaluation program, made possible by monthly donors, allows us to visit communities up to 4 times a year. Read more about our program and how you can help.