Clean Water Allows Cosylyne to Dream of Becoming a Nurse!

September, 2025

Last year, your gift unlocked the potential for a brighter future for Cosylyne. Since then, she and the Lusumu Primary School Community of 470 students have had clean, reliable water. Your contribution has made a significant impact. Thank you for making a difference!

"I'm a happy and proud student of Lusumu K Primary School. I no longer worry about safety when fetching water. The water point is easily accessible, and collecting water is so easy for everyone, not strenuous at all."

Before the Well Installation

Like many girls in Kenya, 11-year-old Cosylyne is responsible for collecting water to meet her daily water needs. Before last year’s water intervention, this task stole her time and negatively affected her.

Students collect water from 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 Cosylyne, in particular, it lessened her opportunity to spend time in the classroom learning.

"There was [a] scarcity of water in the school. This forced us to carry water each morning when coming to school. Carrying a jerrican of water alongside books to school each morning was very tiring. The safety of water was also unknown because different pupils collected water from multiple sources, some [of which] were contaminated sources," shared Cosylyne.

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 Cosylyne’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!"

"Clean water is a direct means to better health. With better health, I'm able to perform assigned tasks well, concentrate and study in class well, thus [achieving] better grades. Clean water also brings about convenience as we are no longer ambushed by the teachers to go for water," Cosylyne said.

The Future is Looking Bright!

A year ago, you made a difference for Cosylyne 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 Cosylyne 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 Cosylyne fulfill her dreams.

"Better and promising grades have been achieved. This has been made possible by getting to class early enough, energetic, fully prepared, and ready to start [the] session of the day, and teachers as well attend all their scheduled lessons. There is no time wasted in going for water," Cosylyne exclaimed.

"As one of the best performing students in my class, I'm very optimistic in scoring better grades, which will land me in better higher learning institutions, and in the long run, [a] nursing course that I desire to pursue shall be fulfilled."


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 Lusumu 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 Lusumu 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: 470 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Sep 2024

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 09/09/2025

Project Features


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The 450 students and 20 staff members of Lusum Primary School face a water crisis each day. They work tirelessly to collect enough water to meet their needs, but the water they must rely on makes everyone ill.

The school has plastic and cement rain tanks on its campus, but they do not collect sufficient water for everyone, especially during the short rainy seasons. Because of this, students are burdened with the responsibility of hauling water to school each morning, but still, there is never enough.

"Pupils bring water from home when they come to school. This "luggage" of a filled-up container adds to the books that have to be carried to school," said field officer Lillian Achieng.

When students get to school, their burden of responsibility for collecting water is not done. They are sent out of class to the community spring in search of more water throughout the day.

"During lessons, pupils are requested to go [to] the spring and get more water for kitchen purposes. In the afternoon, the pupils will go for more water for cleaning purposes. This, in one word, summarizes to [a] waste of precious time and fatigue," said Lillian.

"I feel like it's a punishment our teachers subject us to. Carrying a heavy load of books and [a] filled up Jerrican (which can weigh up to 40 pounds full) to school really wears me out. I have to slow my steps due to the weight I am carrying. This has always caused me to arrive at school late and miss some lessons. Last week, the teacher on duty caned me for arriving late in school, not considering that I was burdened," said 14-year-old Rebecca D.

"The main water source for this school is the protected spring. The spring, though once protected, is in [a] bad state. The spring is far away from school, and accessing it is hard due to the nature of the path that leads to the spring. The paths are lonely, thus posing as a danger to the kids. The community members also use this spring, resulting in crowding, especially [during] the evening hours."

"The environment around the protected spring is pathetic. The place is dirty with sugarcane husks. The drawing point is worn out, and water oozes from the loose discharge pipe. Skin rashes, sore throats, and stomach-related diseases like typhoid have been reported. Ikhanyi Dispensary, which serves this community, has records of the last typhoid attack upon the pupils in this school," Lillian concluded.

"I was [a] victim of the last case of typhoid, which happened early this year. I received treatment from Ikhanyi Dispensary and [was] cautioned about the water I use," said teacher Timothy Kakai.

Installing a well will enable students to be free from bearing the weight of such responsibility and have the time and energy to focus on learning once again.

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


September, 2024: Lusumu Primary School Well Complete!

Your contribution has given access to clean water for the Lusumu 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!

"My learning in school now will be comfortable. I'll have all the time in class. No more arriving at school fatigued due to carrying filled-up containers and missing lessons. I will be able to walk fast to school, arrive at school on time, stay fully in my classroom for lessons, and even get time for playing. With this much concentration in class, I believe I'll improve on my grades," said 13-year-old Naomi.

Naomi, by the new well.

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

"Many of my pupils have future dreams that can only be reached if quality education is upheld. With the new waterpoint, they'll have enough time to sit in class and concentrate and achieve their dreams," teacher Evans Manasseh said.

Mr. Manasseh collects a drink of clean water.

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.

Drilling started with excitement in the air. We continued drilling to reach a final depth of 80 meters with a final static water level of 46 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.

Flushing.

Once we reached the optimum depth, the team inserted permanent casing and 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.

Building a cement pad for the well pump.

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.

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.

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

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

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.

Community Education

We scheduled hygiene and sanitation training with the school’s staff. When the training day arrived, facilitators Lillian Achieng and Gerald Sakari Barasa deployed to the site to lead the event. 20 students and teachers attended the training.

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.

"The participants were wholeheartedly involved in the training by taking part in the practical sessions and even the question and answer moments," shared Field Officer Lillian Achieng.

"The most interesting topic in the hygiene training was personal hygiene. Under this I learned how to correctly wash my hands. I learned that I needed to use soap to wash my hands in order to kill germs. Making our own soap would be more affordable than purchasing already made soap, and the trainer helped us learn how to make soap," said participant Linny Kabei, the new chairperson of the student health club.

Thank you for making all of this possible!




July, 2024: Lusumu Primary School New Well Underway!

The lack of adequate water at Lusumu 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