Faith Dreams of Becoming a Teacher!

May, 2025

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

Last year, your gift unlocked the potential for a brighter future for Faith. Since then, she and the ADC Ikonza Primary School of 248 students have had clean, reliable water. Your contribution has made a significant impact. Thank you for making a difference!

"The water is very clean and we love it!"

Before the Well Installation

Like many in Kenya, 13-year-old Faith 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 at the previous water source.

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

"We left classes to find water for cleaning, preparing food, and filling handwashing points. It was tiresome and hectic. The sources are quite far from [the] school. We made many trips to the springs on Fridays to get sufficient water for cleaning, we spent a lot of time going to look for water. The spring is far and hilly," said Faith.

Since the Well 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 Faith’s future. By supporting the water solution, you made clean water an everyday reality, fostering hope for a brighter future.

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!"

"I have sufficient time for doing assignments and [to] play with friends," said Faith.

The Future is Looking Bright!

A year ago, you made a difference for Faith and the rest of her community. 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 Faith 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 fulfill dreams.

"I am doing well in my studies and hope to continue doing well. We make alot of time for classes and revisions. We [are] no longer worried about water because we have enough, and the water is very clean," said Faith.

Faith now has reliable access to water, allowing her to plan for the future.

"I would like to become a great teacher. I love teaching my friends math."


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 ADC Ikonza 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 ADC Ikonza 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: 248 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - May 2024

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 02/06/2025

Project Features


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ADC Ikonza Primary School has no reliable water source on its school campus, leaving its 248 students and staff struggling every day. Students' health and academic performance suffer, daily cleaning becomes challenging, and food cannot be prepared, leaving everyone hungry.

"As a teacher and parent of this school, water has really been a major problem to us. Academically, my pupils are affected much due to time-wasting looking for water, especially during morning lessons. Preparing meals for teachers and doing cleanliness in school is a bit hard because [the] water is not enough to serve [us] well, hence [our] hygiene is not up to standard. Lastly, health issues are many in this school, which also contributes to [the] high rate of absenteeism among pupils," said teacher Benjamin Kaveyi (shown below).

Students spend far too much time missing school because of water, whether they are out of class searching for it, or they are sick after consuming the unsafe water.

"Water has been a challenge for me as a pupil of this school. Time-wasting looking for water also contributes to [our] slow syllabus coverage and poor performance in academics. The distance also covered looking for water makes us tired, [with] no concentration in class. Also, the learning environment is not cleaned daily, which makes it difficult to have [a] conducive learning [environment]," said student Janet K., shown below collecting water.

The stream where students collect water is far from the school, leaving everyone exhausted from the trip.

"When water is further away, it requires more time to collect, which often means less time at school. Particularly for girls, a shortage of water in schools impacts student enrolment, attendance and performance." -UNICEF

And after all this effort, the water collected gives students a high chance of contracting illnesses such as typhoid, cholera, sore throat, and diarrhea.

With a new well on their campus, students should be able to regain their health and reserve their time and energy for learning.

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


May, 2024: ADC Ikonza Primary School New Well Complete!

We are excited to share that ADC Ikonza 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.

"Fetching water from the stream on a daily basis came with its own challenges. Drinking from the source was really dangerous as the water was exposed to contaminants. Now, I am glad that all it will take is to pump the water from the borehole and get clean running water. My health will no longer be compromised," said Stacy.

Stacy.

Stacy continued, "Carrying water to school will now be a thing of the past. We now fetch clean, safe water directly in the school compound without difficulty. [The] time that was wasted before will be used for studies, leading to an improvement in my academics."

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

"Shortage of clean, safe water, sanitation, and hygiene has been one of the big challenges in this school and the entire community. We are now grateful [that] the implementation of this WASH project will help improve our hygiene and sanitation standards. Moving forward, waterborne and hygiene-related diseases will now be a thing of the past," shared 34-year-old teacher Jasper Jebongo.

"Initially, teachers failed to cover [the] syllabus on time due to unavailability of students in class. Most class hours were spent out of the school by the students fetching water or being absent for fear of being requested to fetch water for use in school. From today, I will be able to cover the syllabus on time for all my teaching subjects, leading to student improvement. Availability of water will allow cleaning of our classes and our latrines every day," concluded Jasper.

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 100 meters with a final static water level of 51 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, then 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

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

New handwashing station.

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 and Joel deployed to the site to lead the event. Twenty-two students and teachers attended the training, which we held under a shade tree on the school grounds.

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.

Students learning to make soap.

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

Students learn proper handwashing techniques.

The session on proper dental hygiene was of interest to the participants. The facilitator encouraged participants to brush their teeth after every meal to keep them strong and healthy. The majority of the participants admitted they were still holding onto toothbrushes they had received three years earlier, even though they were no longer effective. The facilitator encouraged the participants to replace their toothbrushes after every three months for the best results.

Practicing proper oral hygiene.

"A healthy generation is dependent on good hygiene and sanitation standards. Today, our facilitators have instilled great knowledge in us that will propel healthy living. A majority of us live a careless life, and this has impacted negatively our health standards. Information gathered today will be spread to the entire school and community so that we live a healthy life," said Stacy (quoted earlier).

The training participants.

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!




March, 2024: ADC Ikonza Primary School Well Underway!

The lack of adequate water at ADC Ikonza 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

Project Sponsor - Yakima Foursquare Church
1 individual donor(s)