Project Status



Project Type:  Borehole Well and Hand Pump

Regional Program: Western Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 619 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Oct 2024

Functionality Status:  Functional

Project Features


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The 619 students and staff of St. Jude Shikoti Girls Primary Boarding School struggle to access sufficient water. The two rain tanks on the school compound often run dry, forcing students to travel to a hand-dug well in the already over-crowded community, causing tensions between the school and the community at large.

Field Officer Betty Muhongo shared, "Going to the shared dug well has a few times raised trouble between the students and the community members who do not hold back and lash out at the students. The administration has had to intervene to keep the relationships between the school and the community well."

This boarding school exists because the community wanted to create better educational opportunities for the young girls of their community. Little did the community know that the school would struggle to meet its fundamental water needs, which would cause friction within the greater community.

Tensions between the community and school concerning their lack of water make life burdensome for students like Aisha.

"Having little water in school sometimes makes some of your plans interrupted, like washing clothes and taking baths. You can go to the taps to find them dry and have to wait for when you are allowed to go to the dug well," said 12-year-old Aisha, shown below.

However, that isn't the only water-related problem at St. Jude Shikoti Girls Primary Boarding School.

"The two tanks at school are heavily dependent on the rain. Whenever there is a prolonged dry season, the tanks go dry. The protected dug well also gets a slower recharge speed during the dry seasons, creating a long queue for its dependents. Long queues translate to lost class time for the students and the teachers," Betty continued. Shown below is one of the rainwater tanks that often runs dry.

45-year-old Teacher Pamela Waweri, shown below teaching, shared, "We have recently had to go get water from the well more times than normal, and the trip to the well is usually dreadful to the teacher sent to watch over the students. They usually use this opportunity to misbehave, and some of the community members are difficult to deal with. At times the lines are too long, which ends up eating into your teaching time."

Without adequate class time, everyone suffers. Teachers don't get to complete their lessons, and students miss out on vital learning time that will ultimately affect their future endeavors.

Installing the well will enable students and teachers like Aisha to no longer worry about meeting their basic water needs. Improving personal hygiene in children will increase their self-esteem, which will greatly enhance their futures. Teachers like Pamela will be able to focus on utilizing all their classroom time to educate their students without the burden of searching for water.

Water at schools is unique, which is why we need unique solutions.

The Proposed Solution, Determined Together...

At The Water Project, everyone has a part in conversations and solutions. We operate in transparency, believing it benefits everyone. We expect reliability from one another as well as our water solutions. Everyone involved makes this possible through hard work and dedication.

In a joint discovery process, community members determine their most advantageous water solution alongside our technical experts. Read more specifics about this solution on the What We're Building tab of this project page. Then, community members lend their support by collecting needed construction materials (sometimes for months ahead of time!), providing labor alongside our artisans, sheltering and feeding the builders, and supplying additional resources.

Water Access for Everyone

This water project is one piece in a large puzzle. In Kenya, Sierra Leone, and Uganda, we're working toward complete coverage of reliable, maintained water sources that guarantee public access now and in the future within a 30-minute round trip for each community, household, school, and health center. One day, we hope to report that this has been achieved!

Training on Health, Hygiene & More

With the community's input, we've identified topics where training will increase positive health outcomes at personal, household, and community levels. We'll coordinate with them to find the best training date. Some examples of what we train communities on are:

  • Improved hygiene, health, and sanitation habits
  • Safe water handling, storage & treatment
  • Disease prevention and proper handwashing
  • Income-generation
  • Community leadership, governance, & election of a water committee
  • Operation and maintenance of the water point

Handwashing Stations

Alongside each water source, we also provide two new gravity-fed handwashing stations that will allow everyone at the school to wash their hands without running water. Handwashing is so important to help prevent future water-related illnesses in the school community.

The student health club will maintain the stations, fill them with water, and supply them with soap (which we will teach the school community how to make during the training!).

VIP Latrines

In addition, we will construct two triple-door Ventilated Improved Pit (VIP) latrine blocks designed to prevent fecal disease transmission. Each latrine will have a cement floor, which is easy to use and clean regularly. Three doors will serve the girls, and three doors will serve the boys.

Project Updates


October, 2024: St. Jude Shikoti Girls Boarding Primary School Well Complete!

Your contribution has given access to clean water for the St. Jude Shikoti Girls Boarding Primary School in Kenya, thanks to the completion of their borehole well! Clean flowing water is already making a difference in the lives of the students and staff. This will provide them with a reliable water source for their daily needs.

We installed new latrines and handwashing stations, then trained students and staff on improved sanitation and hygiene practices. Together, these components will unlock the opportunity for these students to thrive!

15-year-old Tatiana said, "Reliable water will improve things for me. I do not have to leave school to get water or carry water from home. I will also have peace with my teachers and fellow pupils because initially, we could brush shoulders the wrong way when water was needed. By having the waterpoint here in school, it will save us some time when fetching water and we can use that time to study better and complete our syllabus."

Tatiana.

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

54-year-old teacher Pamela Wawire shared, "Having this water source here should definitely make their lives better and boost their academic performance. It should completely eradicate class interruptions and absenteeism from water-related illnesses and promote better use of time while in school."

Teacher Pamela Wawire.

How We Got the Water Flowing

The first step was to conduct a hydrogeological survey to determine the the best site for the school's well. Once we found the perfect spot, the team obtained approval from the government to begin drilling.

Parents, staff, and students all contributed to this well’s success, right from the start. To prepare for the well, 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 begins!

Drilling started with excitement in the air. We continued drilling to reach a final depth of 70 meters with a final static water level of 18 meters.

The drilling process can take up to three consecutive days to complete due to this region’s hard bedrock, so the 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 optimum depth, the team inserted permanent casing, 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.

Flushing the well.

We constructed a cement well pad to seal it off from any ground-level contaminants. Tiles were installed beneath the spout to protect the cement from the erosive force of the water. We included a short drainage channel and a soak pit to prevent standing water.

Constructing the cement well pad.

When the well pad was cured, we installed a new stainless steel hand pump and sampled the water for a quality test. The results showed this water was safe for drinking!

We officially gave ownership of the new borehole to the school’s students and teachers.

This well was a success!

Students and staff celebrated the presence of clean water on campus. The event was an excellent chance to acknowledge the school administration and students, and remind them of our continued support. Happiness, thanksgiving, and appreciation were the order of the day, flowing in all directions.

VIP Latrines

Tatiana in front of their new 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. They have locking doors for safety and privacy, as well as vents to keep air flowing out through the roof. With a well right on school property, there should be enough water to keep them clean.

Handwashing Stations

Students are preparing the handwash station.

We also also set up two handwashing stations outside the latrines. Student 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 soap available.

School Education

We scheduled hygiene and sanitation training with the school’s staff. When the training day arrived, facilitator Betty Muhongo deployed to the site to lead the event. 23 students and teachers attended the training.

Training begins!

We emphasized personal, menstrual, oral, and environmental hygiene. Proper water handling, soap-making, the ten steps of handwashing, and the importance of primary health care were discussed. We covered disease prevention, teen pregnancy, and child rights. Waterpoint, latrine, and handwashing station operation and maintenance, as well as leadership and governance were discussed. By the end of the training, each pupil understood their role in sustaining clean water and good health within their school community.

The students elected 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 larger community.

"Soapmaking was our most memorable topic because the students were fascinated by the entire process. With the reagents changing color, shape, and form, the students became more and more curious, and a few had questions to satisfy their curiosity," shared Ms. Muhongo.

Teacher Micah Kinaro, 35, shared his favorite part of the training: "To me, the most interesting was the handwashing section. Having grown up in a traditional setting, soap was considered a luxury, and thus, I hardly used it growing up. I also did not realize that there is more than one part of the hand! I just rub my palms together, and that is it. It is interesting how very wrong we are on certain things."

Thank you for making all of this possible!




August, 2024: St. Jude Shikoti Girls Boarding Primary School Well Underway!

The lack of adequate water at St. Jude Shikoti Girls Boarding Primary School costs the students and staff 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


Project Type

Abundant water is often right under our feet! Beneath the Earth’s surface, rivers called aquifers flow through layers of sediment and rock, providing a constant supply of safe water. For borehole wells, we drill deep into the earth, allowing us to access this water which is naturally filtered and protected from sources of contamination at the surface level. First, we decide where to drill by surveying the area and determining where aquifers are likely to sit. To reach the underground water, our drill rigs plunge through meters (sometimes even hundreds of meters!) of soil, silt, rock, and more. Once the drill finds water, we build a well platform and attach a hand pump. If all goes as planned, the community is left with a safe, closed water source providing around five gallons of water per minute! Learn more here!


Contributors

Church of St. Timothy
Rotary Club of Chestfield Walk 4 Water 2024
Peace Lutheran Church
Petra's Campaign for Water
26 individual donor(s)