Rehabilitation Project
With a huge population of 815 students and 31 staff members, Shitirira Primary School needs a lot of water. But because the school doesn't have a reliable water source of its own, the school administration sends the children off school grounds for water every day. Supplying the school with water is especially difficult since Shitirira is a boarding school; students need water both in class and outside of it.
The school has two hand-dug wells of its own, but one no longer yields water at all, and the other one only has water during rainy seasons. But even when it functions, this well's water often becomes brown after just two dips of the bucket. And each time the bucket emerges from the well is another opportunity for the water inside to be contaminated.
This means that for months out of each year, the only water source for students is what they can carry from a nearby spring. But each time students leave the school for water, they wind their way through dense sugarcane fields and climb steep slopes.
"The road [becomes] slippery when it rains," said student Ellington A. (shown below). "[The] distance from the school to the spring is quite long. [It's a] narrow road full of sugarcane plantations, [which results in] security issues [and] wastage of time. We fetch water when the sun is still so hot and [it] makes us feel tired. Getting water becomes tiresome because of the distance and slope."
But the tiring journey isn't the only problem they might encounter. When made to go unsupervised, students fight, or even bully each other. Each trip to the water source eats into class time, lunch, or recess. And since the spring is shared with community members, pupils often find people already fetching water and end up having to wait for their turn.
"[There is] bullying when [we're] not accompanied by a teacher to the spring," Ellington said. "[We also have] limited time to fetch water, mostly during games time, so we don't even find time to play and interact with fellow students. A lot of time [is] spent getting water, making some of us get [back] late."
"I have been in this school for some years now, and I understand how the pupils stray to get water," said teacher Everline Limwechela (in the below photo).
"During [the] drought season, we send them to the spring frequently to get water for hygiene and sanitation, and also water for animals and preparing meals," Everline continued. "The interaction with [the] community has also resulted [in] accusations of sugarcane theft. We also try to send only upper primary pupils to get water to reduce pupils' fights within themselves and bullying. To tackle some of these challenges, we need a reliable water source in the school."
Everyone at Shitirira Primary School needs a water source on the school campus so the students can stay under the teachers' watchful eyes with plenty of time for both learning and playing.
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. 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, 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.
