Shitaho Primary School

St. Gerald Shitaho Primary School is located in Kakamega County, Kenya. There are 711 students enrolled here, who are taught by 18 teachers. The school also employs three support staff.

There's activity at Shitaho Primary School as early as 6:30am when pupils start arriving, most with small plastic containers in hand. Once that container of water is dropped off at the kitchen, students start picking up litter around the compound while others clean the latrines. They all settle in for 8am lessons.

Most of the students' parents tend their farms and take casual labor jobs to feed their families.

Water

This school does not have a water source, and that's why students are required to come to school with water every morning. Students often fill their containers on the way to school. While parents and teachers would prefer them to get clean water from Mwikholo Spring, there are many dirty water sources along the way that they use. In fact, one of the closest water sources to Shitaho Primary School is an unprotected spring.

School administration is afraid that even when students get clean water from Mwikholo Spring, it gets contaminated by the time they finish the long dusty trek to school. Containers are dirty and uncovered, and students need to learn how to safely handle their drinking water.

The water brought to school is used for drinking, cooking lunch, and cleaning. When there isn't enough water to get through the day, older students are sent back out in search of water.

Students are absent from class a lot, and they say this is most often because of stomachaches and diarrhea - symptoms related to drinking unsafe water. There are also regular reports of waterborne illnesses like typhoid and cholera.

Sanitation

Students are currently sharing their latrines with the polytechnic school that just opened. There are too few latrines for the users. They are in poor condition, with large holes in the doors that don't allow the students any privacy.

There are no handwashing stations, and both students and staff are ashamed of the facilities they endure.

"My school is one of the schools bordering the big town, but it still has poor sanitation facilities, especially the toilets. I feel so ashamed, especially when I am given an opportunity to hold an event in the school but the toilets are not enough for visitors," headteacher Maurice Ingonga said.

What we can do:

Training

There will be two days for teachers, students, and parents to meet at the school to learn about hygiene and sanitation practices. They will also attend sessions on the management and maintenance of their new rainwater catchment tank, latrines, and handwashing stations. We will use all of our training topics to empower participants to invest their time in positive behaviors that promote health, prolong life, and enable them to become more self-reliant citizens.

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.

Handwashing Stations

The two handwashing stations are 50-liter plastic barrels on metal stands, and each has a tap to conserve water. These are often delivered by hygiene and sanitation training so they can be used for demonstrations but always arrive by a project’s completion.

The CTC club will be in charge of filling these stations with water and will ensure that there is always a cleaning agent like soap or ash.

VIP Latrines

Two triple-door latrines will be constructed with local materials that the school will help gather. Three doors will be set aside for each gender. 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. Once finished, this tank can begin catching rainfall that will be used by the school’s students and staff. Students will no longer waste valuable energy and time finding water on the way to school and throughout the day.

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

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 readability) thanks to the hard work of our friends in Kenya.

Project Updates

September, 2019: Giving Update: Shitaho Primary School

A year ago, your generous donation helped Shitaho 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 Shitaho 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: Shitaho Primary School Project Complete

A new rainwater catchment system was built! Shitaho 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

Planning for hygiene and sanitation training started right after our first visit to the school. The field officer made it clear to the school administration that a training was needed, and that we would be using that platform to establish a new student health club using the CTC (child to child) method. The headteacher was excited to cooperate and work with us, and a day was quickly scheduled.

Participants were chosen from grades four, five, and six. There were also a few teachers who both supported our trainers and learned new things for themselves. The day started sunny in the morning hours, so the classroom was warm and comfortable for all of us.

The only challenge our trainers faced was a distractingly loud group of bullfighting fans moving along the road adjacent to our classroom. The students ran out to the fence to watch them pass. Once the bull and fans were far enough away, the students all returned so we could resume.

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. Students liked how we used lots of pictures and demonstrations to teach these things and even more. They plan to take what they learned and share it via a newly established student health club. The group even held elections for club leadership.

The student health club will plan activities that promote good hygiene at their school.

Students were particularly interested to learn about food poisoning. Whenever they'd use the term, they had thought that food poisoning was someone literally putting a chemical poison in their food. We clarified that food can get contaminated anywhere from the growing process to storing leftovers. They learned that even their own unwashed hands can make food dangerous for consumption! We taught them how to keep food safe and about the seriousness of untreated food poisoning symptoms like diarrhea.

"This has been the best training I've ever had since I started school here," said 13-year-old Melvin Khasoha.

"I have been enlightened as to why I need water in my life because it fuels all of our body's functions. I will not forget handwashing techniques and the procedure for brushing my teeth. These are daily activities which affect me personally. My life will not remain the same!"