Rehabilitation Project
Kithoni Secondary School was started in 2013 by parents who felt their area needed a secondary school for their children who would travel long distances to access education. The school was eventually taken up by the Makueni District Education Board to operate as a government learning center. Kithoni Secondary has grown gradually over the past four years through the support of parents and teachers to attain its current status.
It has a plastic water tank to collect rainwater for the students, but it is not big enough. It only lasts for three weeks at a time before running dry - forcing the school to require the students to bring water from home each day. The water collected is not only inadequate but often unsafe. That puts students at risk of waterborne diseases and forces them to sometimes leave class to search for more water. Both situations prevent students from learning in school.
"Our school is young and in the process of establishing itself, lack of enough water supply affects the school community negatively, parents and students are required to bring water to school to sustain water needs. The extra burden placed on students affects their concentration in class and general school activities, the water available is never enough to sustain school water needs," Mr. Methusela Katiku, Principal at the school, said.
The school has suffered the challenge of inadequate water supply since it was started, and acquiring water for use in school has always been an expensive affair for the students and their parents. Science lab activities have been largely affected by lack of sufficient water supply. It prevents them from undertaking the hands-on activities that could enrich their learning.
The latrines look good since they were recently constructed. However, low water supply in school has contributed to poor levels of cleanliness at the latrines and in the classrooms, making the learning environment unfavorable for good student life.
"The poor supply of water in school has exposed us to below average levels of hygiene and sanitation against our wishes, working on water projects will help us improve our hygiene and sanitation conditions because water access will be greatly boosted," Mr. Katiku said.
The school's tree planting program was halted because there wasn't enough water.
Here’s what we’re going to do about it:
Training
Students and staff will be trained in hygiene and sanitation. Those in attendance will form a school health club that will promote good hygiene and sanitation practices both at school and at home. They will learn all the steps of proper handwashing, how to treat water, and how to keep their environment clean. The school will also be taught how to best oversee and maintain their new rainwater catchment tank and handwashing stations.
Handwashing Stations
Three handwashing stations will be delivered at the project’s completion. These are 1,000-liter plastic tanks fitted with four taps. The health club and school management will be responsible for making sure tanks are filled with water and that a cleaning agent such as soap or ash is available.
Rainwater Catchment Tank
We will build a 104,000-liter rainwater catchment tank for this school. Its clean water will benefit the students, teachers, and supplementary staff. Parents will mobilize the materials needed for construction, such as sand and stone and also lend some strong arms to help with the actual construction.
As soon as the tank has time to cure, it can begin to collect rainwater for drinking, cooking, and cleaning! 104,000 liters of water will keep students and staff in class to focus on learning.
This project is a part of our shared program with Africa Sand Dam Foundation. Our team is pleased to provide the reports for this project (formatted and edited for clarity) thanks to the hard work of our friends in Kenya.
