A Year Later: Lureko Girls Secondary School

A year ago, your generous donation enabled us to construct a rainwater tank for Lureko Girls Secondary 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 Jemmimah Khasoha with you.

The lives of these students have greatly improved over the past year. The school has always been cooperative, and they appreciate the work that was done. Thus, they take good care of their facilities and fully utilize all of the rainwater that is collected in the tank.

The school compound, classrooms, kitchen and even the latrines are clean. All this has been enabled by the rainwater tank, latrines, and accompanying hygiene training implemented a year ago.

"I can attest that last year has been the greatest. I recorded the greatest improvement in my academics," said Ashley Achieng.

Ashley Achieng and Josephine Omamo at the tank

She attributes her success to safe, reliable water on the school grounds. She said that having the tank means she no longer has to walk long distances and disrupt her school day just to fetch water. Nor does she and her classmates need to bring water to school each morning, since there is plenty available from the tank.

From observations made during the visit, the students are happily washing their hands after visiting the toilets and are still following the ten handwashing steps taught during training.

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 project at Lureko Girls Secondary School is changing many lives.

The school enrollment has increased by nearly 30 students over the past year, said Principal Josephine Omamo. But the most significant gains have been in terms of academics. Students are performing better since they spend their time on studies, she said.

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.