Project Status



Project Type:  Rainwater Catchment

Regional Program: Western Kenya WaSH Program

Impact: 339 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Apr 2017

Functionality Status:  Functional

Last Checkup: 01/11/2024

Project Features


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Community Profile

This project is a part of our shared program with Western Water And Sanitation Forum (WEWASAFO). Our team is pleased to directly share the below report (edited for clarity, as needed).

Welcome to the School

Rosterman Secondary School is one of the neediest schools in the area. Apart from insufficient water supply and too few latrines, the school also has inadequate infrastructure; they lack a school laboratory, library, dining hall, offices, and classrooms.

Rosterman Secondary School was started in year 2012 by its sponsor, the Catholic Church, with the aim of formalizing education for community members and ensuring that girls have access to proper education. Without an education opportunity, girls were being forced into early marriage.

The school now has a total of 320 students; 140 boys and 180 girls. The school employs 15 teachers and four support staff.

Students begin arriving at 6:30AM for their daily cleaning routine. Normal lessons run from 8AM to 4PM with two breaks and a lunch hour. Students participate in sports and games from 4PM until 5PM, when they are dismissed to return home. Once home, they help their parents do chores and complete their homework.

While their children are in school, mothers undertake household chores, help their husbands on the farm, or go to the market to sell or buy home goods. Men spend the entire day working the field and caring for livestock.

Rosterman Primary just received help with water and sanitation, and the secondary section witnessed the huge improvements. The principal thus wrote a letter explaining their need and asking for that same assistance.

Water Situation

The school is connected to a piped water system, but it comes twice a week if they're lucky. Turning the tap on is the only way to check if there will be water on any given day.

Beyond those two days, students are forced to walk to the nearby stream to fetch water. This has been a major hurdle, since many students skip school to avoid having to fetch heavy container of water.

The school has been applying for rainwater catchment support from the county government, but they are continuously denied. Officials say the school doesn't have enough funds to support a project.

The school confirms that poor academic performance is a direct result of their water shortage. Not only is time wasted as students leave to fetch water, but a high spread of sickness is reported after students drink this water. A massive amount of resources are used to treat sicknesses like diarrhea and typhoid.

Sanitation Situation

The water shortage also detracts from the school's ability to keep their facilities clean.

The school has three latrines for boys, three for girls, and two for teachers. These latrines are in fair condition but are far too few to cater to 320 students, most of who are teenage girls.

They don't have hand-washing stations or the knowhow to find a temporary solution.

Plans: Hygiene and Sanitation Training and Hand-Washing 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 hand-washing stations, and make sure they are kept clean and in working condition. The two hand-washing 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.

Plans: 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.

Plans: 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 have to leave their school in search of water!

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


September, 2018: A Year Later: Rosterman Secondary School

A year ago, generous donors helped construct a rainwater catchment tank for Rosterman Secondary School in Kenya. The contributions of incredible monthly donors and others giving directly to The Water Promise allow teams to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the water project over time. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories. Read more...




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!


A Year Later: Rosterman Secondary School

September, 2018

“The water project has played a very crucial role in my life and that of other students,” student Peter Oyiengo said.

Keeping The Water Promise

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

This giving community supports ongoing sustainability programs that help Rosterman Secondary 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!

A year ago, generous donors helped construct a rainwater catchment tank for Rosterman Secondary School in Kenya. The contributions of incredible monthly donors and others giving directly to The Water Promise allow teams to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the water project over time. These consistent visits allow us to learn vital lessons and hear amazing stories – and we’re excited to share this one from Jacklyne Chelagat with you.


Not having clean and safe water or good sanitation and hygiene had been a thorn in the side of Rosterman Secondary School for decades. Implementation of the project has, to a great extent, improved the academic performance of students since they are now able to spend most of their time studying - not fetching water. The health status of students, as well as the teachers and subordinate staff, has improved significantly.

"The water project has played a very crucial role in my life and that of other students," student Peter Oyiengo said.

Peter Oyiengo

"I used to be absent most of the time and the problem was as a result of consuming dirty water from the stream. I used to contract water-related diseases and that prevented me from performing well in class."

The tank and the construction of new latrines had an immediate impact on the school. Community members learned of the improvements and more families sent their children to Rosterman Secondary School. Not only are students missing school less often, but more students are attending than ever before!

The water project has brought life in the school back to normal. The aesthetic value is good, and there's an appealing environment to send your daughter or son to study.

Construction of this tank is only one step along the journey toward sustainable access to clean water. The Water Project is committed to consistent monitoring of each water source. Our monitoring and evaluation program, made possible by donors like you, allows us to maintain our relationships with communities by visiting up to 4 times each year to ensure that the water points are safe and reliable.

This is just one of the many ways that we monitor projects and communicate with you. Additionally, you can always check the functionality status and our project map to see how all of our water points are performing, based on our consistent monitoring data.

One project is just a drop in the bucket towards ending the global water crisis, but the ripple effects of this project are truly astounding. This rainwater catchment tank in Rosterman Secondary School is changing many lives.

"The presence of clean and safe water in our school has led to significant improvements," senior teacher Alfred Anungo said.

Alfred Anungo

"It has improved the health status of the students, the sanitation and hygiene standards of the school have improved, and the performance of the students has improved. This is attributed to the proper attendance of the students because they are no longer sick from drinking contaminated water."

This is only possible because of the web of support and trust built between The Water Project, our local teams, the community, and you. We are excited to stay in touch with this community and support their journey with safe water.

Read more about The Water Promise and how you can help.


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 Rosterman Secondary 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 Rosterman Secondary 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

Our Father Lutheran Church
Theatre for the World's Fundraising Page
3 individual donor(s)