A Year Later: Vokoli Primary School

A year ago, generous donors helped build a rainwater catchment system, latrines, and hand washing stations for Vokoli Primary School in Kenya. Because of these gifts and our monthly donors, partners are able to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the actual water project. Because of these consistent visits, we learn vital lessons and we hear amazing stories - we're excited to share this one with you from field officer Karen Maruti.

“The pupils used to waste a lot of time going to fetch water from a spring 1.5 kilometers away instead of studying. With the construction of the water tank in the school, the pupils now have access to safe drinking water in the school. They are using that time to study and this has led to improved performance of the students.”

“Health wise,” says Karen, “the school also reported of reduced cases of water borne diseases. Initially, the pupils used to fetch any available source that is close to them and most of these sources were unprotected. As a result, there were rampant cases of water borne diseases such as diarrhea, cholera, typhoid, and Amoeba. This was evident with the increased absentees amongst the pupils. Because they now drink safe water and washing their hands after toilet use the rate of absenteeism has reduced tremendously.”

Karen also spoke with Head Teacher Francis Ndualh who said “The school has increased its infrastructure with four more additional class rooms. This was called for due to the increased population. Many pupils have come from neighboring schools to join this school and the school’s population has increased from 850 last year to 950 pupils this year. The high influx is as a result of the availability of water in the school as their previous schools had no reliable water source within their school compound.”

“The school is also launching a boarding section for classes 7 & 8 and those who came from far. The water tank will now serve those boarding with sufficient water for washing, cleaning, drinking, and meals. Initially, the school could not start the program due to lack of water on the school compound,” says Francis.

Sheila Cheptoo, a 13-year-old student says “I dreaded coming to school daily when I thought of going to fetch water, but now we have water within the compound. Our classes are now clean and now we have enough time to study."

We look forward to sharing more from Vokoli Primary School as we continue to monitor the water project and visit the school.

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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.