Project Status



Project Type:  Rainwater Catchment

Regional Program: Western Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 500 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Aug 2018

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 03/08/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

Mulwakhi Primary School is located in Emayoka Village of Vihiga County, Kenya. There are 760 students attending here, all taught by 17 teachers. The school also employs three support staff. (Editor's Note: While this many people may have access on any given day, realistically a single water source can only support a population of 350-500 people. To learn more, click here.)

Children are required to be at school at 7:45am for morning announcements. After assembly, they all go to their respective classes where they wait for their teachers. Their classrooms are not in good condition, with broken, dusty floors. Between classes, children go outside to relax or use the latrines.

At 4pm when afternoon classes are through, students stay around to fetch water for cleaning. They play games for 30 minutes and then attend one more class before they're dismissed at 6pm.

Water Situation

Students have to leave school multiple times a day to fetch water from Mulwakhi Spring, which wastes a lot of study time. It is about a half kilometer away, and it's the only spring in the area. It's used by all of the community members, who assert themselves over the students who come to draw water. Students are always pushed to the back of the line.

We visited the spring and found it's protected, and we're sure that the water must be safe for drinking. However, we're concerned with the containers we see students using, which aren't covered or cleaned regularly. It is likely that water is contaminated by the time it is carried back to school, stored, and then finally consumed.

Sanitation Situation

We were amazed to find only eight doors of latrines for students; four doors are for the girls, the other four for boys, and two remaining latrines are for the teachers. The children have to line up for an incredibly long time to wait their turn. There are no handwashing stations, nor would there be the water to fill them. This has led to diarrhea, upset stomach, and frequent vomiting.

Naboth Anjichi sends her child to Mulwakhi Primary. She said, "This school suffers a lot due to lack of enough knowledge about sanitation and hygiene. if only they could get that information, they could be better placed. Ignorance is the root cause of many problems faced in this village and school, and the community just needs sensitization on how they should live a healthy life and all will be well."

What we can do:

Training and Handwashing Stations

Training will be held for two days. The facilitator will use PHAST (participatory hygiene and sanitation transformation), ABCD (asset-based community development), CTC (child to child), lectures, group discussions, and handouts to teach health topics and ways to promote good practices within the school. The CTC method will prepare students to lead other students into healthy habits, as well as kickstart a CTC club for the school. This CTC club will oversee the new facilities, such as handwashing stations, and make sure they are kept clean and in working condition. The two handwashing stations will be delivered to the school, and the club will fill them with water on a daily basis and make sure there is always a cleaning agent such as soap or ash.

VIP Latrines

Two triple-door latrines will be constructed with local materials that the school will help gather. Three doors will serve the girls while the other three serve the boys. And with a new source of water on school grounds, students and staff should have enough to keep these new latrines clean.

Rainwater Catchment Tank

A 50,000-liter rainwater catchment tank will help alleviate the water crisis at this school. The school will also help gather the needed materials such as sand, rocks, and water from the spring for mixing cement (students have already started helping). Once finished, this tank can begin catching rainfall that will be used by the school’s students and staff. Students will no longer have to leave school to fetch water from the village.

We and the school strongly believe that with this assistance, standards will significantly improve. These higher standards will translate to better academic performance!

This project is a part of our shared program with Western Water And Sanitation Forum (WEWASAFO). Our team is pleased to provide the reports for this project (edited for clarity) thanks to the hard work of our friends in Kenya.

Project Updates


September, 2019: Giving Update: Mulwakhi Primary School

A year ago, your generous donation helped Mulwakhi Primary School in Kenya access clean water.

There’s an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water at Mulwakhi Primary School. Month after month, their giving supports ongoing sustainability programs that help this school maintain access to safe, reliable water. Read more…




August, 2018: Mulwakhi Primary School Project Complete

A new rainwater catchment system was built! Mulwakhi Primary School in Kenya now has a new source of safe, clean water thanks to your support. Handwashing stations were installed so that students can clean up after using their new latrines, and students and staff have received training in sanitation and hygiene.

New Knowledge

We planned hygiene and sanitation training with the help of the teachers, who selected student leaders from each grade to attend. The Parent Teacher Association also sent some people. These participants will be representatives in their school and community, promoting the health and hygiene practices they learned.

There was a total of 24 participants who met our trainers in one of the empty classrooms since it was a holiday school. We only expected a few parents, but they really showed!

We covered several topics, including bathing, oral hygiene, and handwashing with soap as a barrier from germs; operation and maintenance of the new facilities, with each person understanding their role for long-lasting clean water and good health.

Water safety was one of the most interesting topics. Many of the parents and students couldn't believe that we were still recommending that they treat water in the tank too. They thought that if it was coming from above and not touched by humans, how could it get contaminated? We were able to explain all the reasons water treatment, like chlorination, is important. Beyond treating tank water, it needs to be stored in thoroughly cleaned containers.

Discussing water treatment

Training went very well, with the hardest part being when we had to establish a water committee. The participants held an election, but couldn't decide on a chairperson. We had to vote three times to finally settle on someone.

Farmer Naboth Anjichi was one of the parents in attendance. He said, "This school has suffered a lot due to lack of enough knowledge. This training helped them to get equipped. Ignorance is the root cause of many problems faced in this village and school, and the community just needs to know how they should live a healthy life and be well."

Handwashing Stations

Pupils can now enjoy washing their hands with soap thanks to the two handwashing stations that were delivered to their school. Before, there was nowhere to wash hands. These new handwashing opportunities will help reduce cases of hygiene-related illness. The training on hygiene has motivated these students to share what they’ve learned both with their peers at school and families at home.

VIP Latrines

This project funded the installation of six new ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrines. All of these new latrines have cement floors that are easy to use and clean. And with a rainwater catchment tank, there should be enough water to keep them clean all the time.

Rainwater Catchment Tank

Construction for this 50,000-liter rainwater catchment tank was successful!

Parents, staff, and students helped our artisans gather everything needed for construction. All the while, women cooked meals for the artisans, and the school provided accommodations for the artisans during their work. Local men and women helped our artisans with their manual labor, too.

The toughest challenge was out of our control; it was rainy more often than not.

The process officially began with our staff and school administration looking around the school compound to try and determine the best location for a new rainwater catchment tank. This needed to be the best site with good, clean roofing to catch the rainwater.

Then, we cleared the site: excavating the soil within the required measurements to make level ground for the tank foundation. The foundation was cast by laying stones on a level ground and then reinforcing it using steel, concrete and waterproof cement.

Both the drawing pipe as well as the washout pipe were affixed as the foundation was lain. The wall was built with ferro-cement techniques through six layers. The inner wall was plastered while rough casting was done on the outer part.

Dome construction could begin after the superstructure had been given enough time to settle. The manhole cover was fitted, inlet pipes were connected to the roof gutters, inlet screens, ventilation pipes (breathers) and overflow pipes were all done to standard.

Finally, the catchment area was dug, plastered, and a staircase installed.

Once finished, the tank was given three weeks to undergo complete curing before it was cleaned and handed over to Mulwakhi Primary School, though we will continue to offer them unmatchable support as a part of our monitoring and maintenance program.

Students will no longer have to leave to find water, and the school is no longer at risk of closure. There is now clean, safe water available on school grounds.

Mr. Jackton Asubi is a security officer at the school. After the students are dismissed, he's there to watch the facilities.

"We are very grateful for this project and the facilities that we have gotten. We promise to make good use of them as it is our only ticket to living healthy. We will also take care of the facilities as we would not want to go back to where we came from," Mr. Asubi said.




June, 2018: Mulwakhi Primary School Project Underway

We're excited to share that artisans have arrived at Mulwakhi Primary School to build a rainwater catchment tank and latrines. As construction progresses, students, teachers, and parent representatives will attend an important training about their health at school, home, and the greater community. Thank you for your patience, and we look forward to reaching out very soon with news of clean water!




April, 2018: News from Mulwakhi Primary School

Dear Friends, we just received word from the field that the tank and latrine construction are delayed. We're moving the completion date back by three months. We continue to work with this school as they prepare for our artisans.

Thank you for standing with us to provide clean water for these students!




January, 2018: Mulwakhi Primary School Project Underway

Mulwakhi Primary School in Kenya has begun building a new source of safe, clean water because of your generous donation. A rainwater catchment tank and new latrines are being constructed, hand-washing stations provided, and the school is being trained on proper sanitation and hygiene practices. Imagine the impact this will have on these students! Thank you for noticing the need here, and we’ll keep you posted as the work continues. For now, please enjoy the new stories, pictures, and maps of this school.




Project Photos


Project Type

For a rainwater collection system, we build gutters around a building with good, clean roofing to channel rain where we want it. From there, the water falls through a filtered inlet pipe into a high-capacity storage tank, the size of which is based on population and average rainfall patterns. In the tank, water can be stored for months, where it is easily treated and accessed. Learn more here!


Giving Update: Mulwakhi Primary School

September, 2019

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

Keeping The Water Promise

There's an incredible community of monthly donors who have come alongside you in supporting clean water in Mulwakhi Primary School.

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Mulwakhi Primary School maintain access to safe, reliable water. Together, they keep The Water Promise.

We’re confident you'll love joining this world-changing group committed to sustainability!

"As an institution, we appreciated the installation of the water facilities. Truly, the facilities have benefited the school in so many ways," said Mulwakhi Primary School's Deputy Principal Lucy Ateko.

We recently visited to see how the water projects we installed a little over a year ago have been serving the school.

"We now fetch water in the school's compound and this we appreciate," Lucy continued.

"Hygiene standards have greatly improved after the hygiene and sanitation training conducted in our school. As a school, we encourage our pupils to always ensure that their personal hygiene is up to standard, and that includes the environment...We do clean our tank [every term] followed by water treatment and this has allowed us [to] access clean, safe water. The toilets have helped reduce the congestion of the pupils."

Never before had Mulwakhi Primary School accessed water like this prior to the installation of their rain tank. The school now also enjoys the availability of extra latrines installed at the same time as the tank. A walk in the school compound shows a well-kept environment with well-maintained WaSH facilities in good working condition. These are all signs that the hygiene and sanitation training conducted at the school by our facilitators last year has been taken seriously.

"Personally, I witnessed the implementation process and I also contributed towards its implementation as I knew the project was ideal [and] best for me," said 12-year-old student Margret Okaya.

"Immediately after implementation, I have experienced tremendous improvements. I have been able to maintain my personal hygiene standard [since] the hygiene and sanitation training conducted in our school [even] though I was not one of the participants."

As Margret exemplifies, when we conduct our training of the student health club, we charge the pupils with spreading their knowledge to their classmates, teachers, and even family members back home who could not attend the training. This helps to multiply the effect of an otherwise small-scale training.

"I can now access clean, safe water at any given time within the school's compound. I am now able to create much time for my studies and indeed my class performance has improved," Margret proudly finished.

Margret (right) with fellow student and Field Officer Samuel (center)

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 Mulwakhi 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 Mulwakhi 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.


Contributors

4 individual donor(s)