Project Status



Project Type:  Rainwater Catchment

Regional Program: Western Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 500 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Nov 2018

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 03/26/2024

Project Features


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Muyere Primary School is located in Tiriki Village of Vihiga County. The students arrive at school with water from home before 7am and do revision work with the help of their teachers.

They usually have a school feeding program so they do not have to go home for lunch. At around 3:10pm, they start their evening cleaning and the lower primary students are released to go home. The class seven and eight students usually have evening preparations. They are usually released at 6pm to go home.

The headteacher of Muyere Secondary School called one of our field officers and requested her to make a visit to the school to assess their water and sanitation facilities.

Many local people feel the county government is not concerned about the welfare of schools. Muyere Primary School is in a very needy state despite the fact that the ward representative resides near the school. The school headteacher informed us that he has been asking for help but all has been in vain. The school administration has been applying for help from the member of parliament by all means but got no response from his office.

We arrived at the school at 5pm and found students sitting in their classrooms doing assignments. We immediately saw that the primary school is in great need because they only have a 5,000-liter water tank, which is leaking, and share latrines with the secondary students.

Water

Water is collected from the small plastic rainwater tank. Since the tank doesn't last long, they must also walk to a nearby spring. The support staff makes the trip to the spring most often.

Sometimes, the students have to carry water from home to fill the containers in which they store the drinking water. Some of the springs from which they fetch their water are unprotected, and sometimes the students drink the water directly without waiting for it to be treated. This makes them get a fever that is not easy to treat.

Sanitation

The latrines at the school are broken down and are shared with the secondary section.

The school has a health club in place which sensitizes the students on the importance of practicing good hygiene. They also used to improvise handwashing stations which had soap and sometimes ash. These stations did not last because they were left outside and got stolen.

Teachers find it difficult to teach, since most of the pupils do not attend school due to illness and therefore perform poorly in their academics.

Here’s what we’re going to do about it:

Training

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. In this case, the health club that already exists will be equipped with the knowledge and other tools they need to teach their peers.

Handwashing Stations

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. Once finished, this tank can begin catching rainfall that will be used by the school’s students and staff.

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

Project Updates


October, 2019: Giving Update: Muyere Primary School

A year ago, your generous donation helped Muyere 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 Muyere Primary School. Month after month, their giving supports ongoing sustainability programs that help this school maintain access to safe, reliable water. Read more…




November, 2018: Muyere Primary School Project Complete

A new rainwater catchment system was built! Muyere 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

As we were visiting to supervise the ongoing tank construction, we informed the headteacher about the need to train students on important health practices. He requested the deputy headteacher pick a few student leaders from classes four to eight to represent their classmates. These 19 students will form a new student-led health club, which will promote hygiene and sanitation practices among their peers and at home.

The school needed to be equipped with knowledge on how to improve standards of hygiene and to also ensure that the sanitation facilities given to them are maintained to serve the school for years to come. Some of the topics covered include water pollution, personal and environmental hygiene, operations and maintenance of the facilities, group dynamics, leadership, and governance. The group activities equipped the student health club to promote hygiene and sanitation awareness at their school.

A student shares the notes he took from his group discussion.

When the trainer wanted to demonstrate the ten steps of handwashing, he requested that the participants move outside where the handwashing stations had been placed. This attracted a lot of attention because the rest of the students were on a class break. Most of these students came and joined the health club because they didn't want to be left out.

"Our pupils have really benefited from the training, and we are privileged to be hygiene ambassadors both at school and at home. We often neglect very critical details about personal hygiene that we already know about," admitted Teacher Andrew Shisungu.

"We want to thank our facilitators for reminding us about proper handwashing by emphasizing the adverse effects that negligence can have on our health and environment."

Handwashing Stations

Pupils can now enjoy washing their hands with soap thanks to the two handwashing stations that were delivered to their school.  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 with their peers at school and families at home.

VIP Latrines

This project funded the installation of six new ventilated improved pit 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!

"This tank will really save our pupils a lot of study time. Sometimes, the school would require more water and the pupils had to be sent to the spring during learning hours and a whole lesson would be wasted," said Deputy Headteacher Kenneth Magani.

"With the newly constructed tank in the school, we will save a lot of time and this will equal improvement in performance."

The Process:

Our staff and the school administration started by looking around the school to determine the best location for their 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.

Clearing flat found for the stone and cement foundation.

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.

The catchment area was dug, plastered, and a staircase installed so students can easily get water from the tap.

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.

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




October, 2018: Muyere Primary School Project Underway

A severe clean water shortage at Muyere Primary School drains students’ time, energy, and health. Thanks to your generosity, we’re working to install a clean water point and much more.

Get to know this school through the introduction and pictures we’ve posted, and read about this water, sanitation and hygiene project. We look forward to reaching out with more good news!




Project Videos


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: Muyere Primary School

October, 2019

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

Keeping The Water Promise

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

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Muyere 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!

Ever since the installation of their rain tank, VIP latrines, and handwashing stations last year at Muyere Primary School, much has changed.

The pupils are now practicing proper personal hygiene, and handwashing has curbed germ transmission among students. The school management has also taken the initiative of locking their rain tank's tap in the evenings, weekends, and during the holidays based on our recommendation for rationing so that no one can tamper with the tap or accidentally leave it running while school is not in session. This helps to ensure that the pupils have water throughout the school year.

Water and Sanitation Teacher Mr. Pius Namasaki took the time to reflect on these changes in his school over the last year. His resonant voice was full of joy in telling us his stories.

(To hear Mr. Namasaki for yourself, check out the video of his interview on the Photos tab of this project!)

"There has been a reduction in the number of children being treated for typhoid in the school. We are happy to have access to clean water for drinking, washing hands, cooking, and cleaning utensils," he said.

Mr. Pius Namasaki stands proud of their rain tank

Yvonne Musieka is a 12-year-old pupil at Muyere Primary School, who has personally felt the difference of the WaSH projects at her school this last year.

"Before the tank was constructed in the school, we used to compete for water with the community in a spring which is 500 meters [away]. The women would ask us to respect them by letting them fetch water first. This wasted a lot of time and we would get scolded by the teachers for spending more time than expected. Now, the reverse is happening because neighboring community members come to the school to request for water."

As Mr. Namasaki explained in his interview, the school has decided to share their water with community members during school hours, and so far this has brought much respect and cohesion in the community.

Field Officer Joan Were (right) with Mr. Namasaki, Yvonne, another student and other school administration at the rain tank


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 Muyere 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 Muyere 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.


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