Leyluck Enjoys Life with Less Worry about Waterborne Illnesses!

October, 2024

A year ago, your generous donation helped the Jepkoyai Primary School in Kenya access clean water – creating a life-changing moment for Leyluck. Thank you!

Last year, your gift unlocked the potential for a brighter future for Leyluck. Since then, she and the Jepkoyai Primary School of 438 students have had clean, reliable water. Your contribution has made a significant impact. Thank you for making a difference!

"I don't just like it; I love it! The water is clean and safe for drinking. The drawing point is easily accessible, and I don't waste time anymore," Leyluck exclaimed.

Leyluck collecting water at the well.

Before the Well's Installation

Like many girls in Western Kenya, Leyluck, 15, is responsible for collecting water to meet her daily needs. Before last year’s water intervention, this task stole her time and negatively affected her.

Students hunting for water before their well was installed last year.

Drinking the water caused severe consequences. Many in her school suffered from waterborne diseases that created health problems, affecting their daily lives. Limited accessibility also meant students wasted time collecting sufficient water to meet their needs. The difficult journey to collect water sapped their physical and emotional energy, creating roadblocks. For Leyluck, in particular, it lessened her opportunity to pursue her education.

"Whenever the plastic rainwater tank in my school became dry, I'd be left with the choice of collecting water from a partially protected spring located far away. It was rocky, steep, and slippery, making it unsafe for everyone. Water from this source was contaminated and often made me sick. I also wasted a lot of time queueing for water, and my school uniform would get wet and soiled in the process," shared Leyluck.

Since the Well's Installation

Your generous gift last year was much more than a simple donation; it was a powerful statement about your commitment to this community and Leyluck’s future. By supporting the water solution, you made clean water an everyday reality, fostering hope for a brighter future.

"Good health is a precious gift that anyone would love to have in their life. Living with clean water guarantees me a life with less worry about falling ill," said Leyluck.

Reliable and clean water lays the groundwork for improved health, education, and economic possibilities, allowing people to thrive. We frequently hear from those we interview that "water is life!"

"It's now [been] over a year since I last got sick due to drinking contaminated water. Thanks to the new waterpoint, I'm healthier than I was a year ago because I'm assured of the quality of the water I drink. I also regularly wash my hands with clean water and soap," Leyluck said.

Leyluck refills the handwashing station at school.

"Since this water point was installed, I've been voted the cleanest student in the school, and due to that, I was elected deputy president! I enjoyed the training, but oral hygiene and soapmaking were the ones I liked and remember most. I can now help my parents save money by making soap at home," she concluded.

The Future is Looking Bright!

A year ago, you made a difference for Leyluck and the rest of her school. This is just the first chapter of their story as access to clean water continues to improve their lives!

At The Water Project, we value sustainability and want to ensure that people continue to thrive. We commit to monitoring this project to ensure the water is always flowing and safe to consume. We inspect the system hardware, track water availability, conduct sanitary inspections, and collect water quality samples to identify risks. We work with our team on the ground to resolve them.

You gave Leyluck a crucial tool for achieving her dreams: access to clean water. Together, we can excitedly expect that with this precious resource, her enthusiasm and courage will help her fulfill her dreams.

When we asked what her goal for the future was, she said, "I want to work hard in my studies, complete elementary school, and later join university. My dream is to become a pilot. "

Leyluck watering crops at school as part of their competency-based curriculum

Navigating through intense dry spells, performing preventative maintenance, conducting quality repairs when needed and continuing to assist community leaders to manage water points are all normal parts of keeping projects sustainable. The Water Promise community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Jepkoyai Primary School maintain access to safe, reliable water.

We’d love for you to join this world-changing group committed to sustainability.

The most impactful way to continue your support of Jepkoyai Primary School – and hundreds of other places just like this – is by joining our community of monthly givers.

Your monthly giving will help provide clean water, every month... keeping The Water Promise.

Project Status



Project Type: Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Western Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 438 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Oct 2023

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 11/09/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

Report Submitted by
Elvis Afuya, Field Officer

The 423 students and 15 staff at Jepkoyai Primary School currently depend on two water sources.

The first is a small rain tank, whose limited 4,000-liter capacity cannot provide enough water for everyone with the region's uncommon/seasonal rainfall. For perspective, if the rain tank miraculously filled up every morning (which it doesn't), it still wouldn't provide enough water for handwashing, cleaning, and drinking. The school needs at least a 75,000-liter tank in order to cater to its needs.

The school's second water source is a semi-protected spring, which is located a steep hike away from the school, and is shared with community members and animals alike.

One of the school's teachers, Mihsa Bilhu, feels for her students: "We are worried about time spent by our students fetching water. Our little girls are also risking a lot walking long distances. I really feel bad seeing students being taken from class to fetch water, but again, our hands are tied. We just have to."

"After climbing the steep slope, we are usually very tired in class and therefore cannot fully concentrate," said Cosmas, who is a student at Jepkoyai. "While carrying containers from home, they frequently get lost, which eventually leads to punishment by our parents."

Students have to fetch water every morning, interrupting their study time. In the case of higher demand for water, like when the school hosts visitors, the students are sent for water during the day, which distracts them again. This frequent interruption affects them academically.

Jepkoyai Primary School needs its own water source for the students to thrive.

What We Can Do:

New Well

We conducted a hydrogeological survey at this school and the results indicated the water table beneath it is an ideal candidate for a borehole well. Due to a borehole well's unique ability to tap into a safe, year-round water column, it will be poised to serve all of the water needs for this school's large population, even through the dry months.

The school will help collect the needed construction materials such as sand, rocks, and water for mixing cement. They will also provide housing and meals for the work team, in addition to providing local laborers. We will complement their materials by providing an expert team of artisans and drilling professionals, tools, hardware, and the hand-pump. Once finished, water from the well will then be used by the school’s students and staff for drinking, handwashing, cooking, cleaning, and much more.

Handwashing Stations

The student health club will oversee the two new handwashing stations we will provide, and make sure they are kept clean and in working condition. The club leaders will fill the handwashing stations with water daily and make sure they are always supplied with a cleaning agent such as soap or ash.

VIP Latrines

We will construct two triple-door latrine blocks using local materials that the school will help gather. Three doors will serve the girls and three doors will serve the boys. All of these new latrines will have cement floors that are designed to be easy to use and to clean. And with a borehole right on school property, there should be enough water to keep them clean.

Training on Health, Hygiene, COVID-19, and More

We will hold a one-day intensive training session with students, teachers, and parents. This training will cover a wide range of topics including COVID-19 symptoms, transmission routes, and prevention; personal and environmental hygiene; and the operation and maintenance of the borehole, latrines, and handwashing stations. There will be a special emphasis on handwashing.

Our team of facilitators will use a variety of methods to train, including participatory hygiene and sanitation transformation, and asset-based community development. We will initiate a student health club, which will prepare students to lead other pupils into healthy habits at school and at home. We will also lead lectures, group discussions, and provide illustrative handouts to teach health topics and ways to promote good hygiene practices within the school including handwashing and water treatment. We will then conduct a series of follow-up trainings before transitioning to our regularly scheduled support visits throughout the year.

We and the school strongly believe that all of these components will work together to improve standards at this school, which will help lead to better student academic performance and will help unlock the opportunity for these students to live better, healthier lives.

Project Updates


October, 2023: Jepkoyai Primary School Well Complete!

We are excited to share that Jepkoyai Primary School in Kenya now has access to a new safe water source thanks to the completion of their borehole well! Students and staff are already using the well's flowing water, which will provide them with a reliable water source for all of their daily needs.

We also installed new latrines and handwashing stations and trained students and staff on improved sanitation and hygiene practices. Together, these components will unlock the opportunity for these students to live better, healthier lives.


"[I] am really the happiest person for the great achievement done in our school. For me, this will help me to ensure [I] am in a position to run my daily activities without wasting time and also attend classes on time. This water point has enabled me not to carry water from home, making sure [I] am not tired when [I] am in school and also doing manual cleaning up to standards. This will ensure that [our] environment is conducive for learning and will contribute to my academic achievements," said Gloria M., 12.

Gloria M. at the well.

"As a pupil from this school and a great member of [the] Child-to-Child Club, my aim is to ensure that each and everyone is a good ambassador of hygiene and sanitation as we have been yearning for this project for a long time," she concluded.

Teachers were just as excited as the students about the new well on campus.

34-year-old teacher Jackline Khavere said, "I will have enough time for teaching pupils without any disturbance of going to look for water. Health issues will be minimal as I used to complain [about] stomach pain after using water collected by pupils from an unknown source; this contributed to me being affected by typhoid most of the time. l will also be joyful to teach the entire class without anyone being absent."

Jackline Khavere.

"Through this water point, my focus is to ensure each and everyone is in a position to maintain high standards of hygiene. The entire school compound will be cleaned for [a] conducive learning environment," she continued.

How We Got the Water Flowing

Parents, staff, and students all contributed to this well's success. After determining the best site for the well through a hydrogeological survey, we obtained approval and a license from the government to begin drilling.

To prepare, the school collected fine sand and water for cement-making. When everything was ready, our drill team and staff arrived at the school to begin work.

Drilling commenced with excitement in the air. The team drove down a temporary casing to keep the walls from collapsing as the rig progressed. We continued drilling to reach a final depth of 70 meters with a final static water level of 62 meters.

The drilling process can take up to three consecutive days to complete due to this region's hard bedrock, so the drill team set up a camp where they could rest and refuel. The school's kitchen staff and parents helped provide meals for the team, while the school provided a safe place for the artisans' accommodations and materials.

Once we reached the required depth, the team replaced the temporary casing with a permanent version and bailed out the dirty water at the bottom of the well. The workers installed pipes, flushed them, tested the well's yield, and chlorinated the water.

After water treatment, we constructed a cement well pad to seal off the well from any ground-level contaminants. Tiles are installed beneath the spout to protect the cement from the erosive force of the water.

We also included a short drainage channel to carry spilled water away from the pump and prevent standing water. A soak pit absorbs runoff at the end of the drainage channel, further eliminating any stagnant water.

When the well pad was dry, we installed a new stainless steel AfriDev handpump and sampled the water for a quality test. The results showed this water was safe for drinking!
We officially handed over the new borehole to the school's students and teachers.

Students and staff celebrated the presence of clean water on campus. The event was an excellent chance to acknowledge the school administration and students as the primary parties entrusted with the tools we have given and remind them of our continued support as they develop. Happiness, thanksgiving, and appreciation were the order of the day, flowing in all directions.

VIP Latrines

Girls in front of their new latrine.

This project funded the installation of six new ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrines. These new latrines have cement floors designed to be easy to use and clean, locking doors for safety and privacy, and vents to keep air flowing up and out through the roof. With a well right on school property, there should be enough water to keep them clean.

Handwashing Stations

We set up two handwashing stations outside the latrines and handed them over to the newly formed student health club. Health club members will teach other students how to wash their hands at the stations properly, fill the stations with water, and ensure that there is always a cleaning agent available.

New Knowledge

We scheduled hygiene and sanitation training with the school's staff, who ensured that the training date would be convenient for pupils and teachers. When the training day arrived, facilitators Victor Musemi and Olivia Bomji deployed to the site to lead the event. 24 students and teachers attended the training, which we held under the shade of a tree on campus.

We focused on personal, menstrual, oral, and environmental hygiene; proper water handling; soap-making and the ten steps of handwashing; the importance of primary health care, the prevention of teen pregnancy and COVID-19; child rights; the operation and maintenance of the pump, well, latrines, and handwashing stations; and leadership and governance. During the latter, the students elected their peers to lead their newly formed student health club.

The student health club members will encourage good health and hygiene practices amongst their peers, teachers, and the community. By the end of the training, each pupil understood their role in sustaining clean water and good health within their school community.

The most popular topic discussed in the training event was soap making. Participants were amazed they could make their own soap. Not only does this cut down on household and school costs, but now, with sufficient water, they will be able to make enough soap to clean the school thoroughly, creating a clean and peaceful environment for learning.

Macdonald K. celebrating.

15-year-old Macdonald K. said, "To me, this was a successful event, which really changed my normal way of handling sanitation and hygiene within the school and at home. [I] am going to embrace and teach others also the importance of keeping hygiene and sanitation in our surroundings."

Conclusion

This project required a substantial collaboration between our staff, our in-country teams, and the community members. When an issue arises concerning the well, the students and teachers are equipped with the necessary skills to rectify the problem and ensure the water point works appropriately. However, if the issue is beyond their capabilities, they can contact their local field officers to assist them.

Also, we will continue to offer them unmatchable support as a part of our monitoring and maintenance program. We walk with each community, problem-solving together when they face challenges with functionality, seasonality, or water quality. Together, all these components help us strive for enduring access to reliable, clean, and safe water for this community.

With your contribution, one more piece has been added to a large puzzle of water projects. In Kenya, Uganda, and Sierra Leone, we're working toward complete coverage. That means reliable, maintained water sources within a 30-minute round trip for each community, household, school, and health center. With this in mind, search through our upcoming projects to see which community you can help next!

Thank you for making all of this possible!




August, 2023: Jepkoyai Primary School Well Underway!

The lack of adequate water in Jepkoyai Primary School costs students time, energy, and health every single day. Clean water scarcity contributes to community instability and diminishes individuals’ personal progress.

But thanks to your recent generosity, things will soon improve here. We are now working to install a reliable water point and improve hygiene standards. We look forward to sharing inspiring news in the near future!




Project Photos



Contributors

1 individual donor(s)