Project Status



Project Type:  Rainwater Catchment

Program: Kenyan Rainwater Harvesting

Impact: 500 Served

Project Phase:  In Service - Nov 2015

Functionality Status:  Current Monitoring Data Delayed

Last Checkup: 12/07/2020

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 report below (edited for clarity, as needed).

BACKGROUND INFORMATION

Ebulondi primary School is located In Tongoi Village, Esaba Sub location, Tongoi location, Central Bunyore Ward, Emuhaya Constituency, Vihiga County.

The school has a total population of 524 pupils, 259 boys, and 265 girls in the primary while the ECD has a total population of 106 pupils of which 54 are boys and 52 are girls.

(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.  This community would be a good candidate for a second project in the future so adequate water is available. To learn more, click here.)

The teaching staff includes 15 teachers of which 9 are females and 6 are males. The school also has 2 support staff, 1 female cook, 1 male Watchmen.

Justification

The school lacks safe water source within the school compound. As a result, children carry water every morning from home for use at school. This water is not sufficient to service the school feeding program and to clean classrooms and toilets. Priority of water is given to cooking lunch for class seven and eight and hygiene in the school is overlooked. This has resulted in many children being infested with jiggers, small fleas that bore into the hands and feet, due to poor hygiene practices. Fifty five pupils have been infested with jiggers within the school compound.

Since the water is not sufficient, none is left for drinking as all the water is consumed by the school feeding program. So whenever the children are thirsty during the day they always resort to any available water source. Mostly they resort to the unprotected spring that is 300 meters away from the school. Since this water is unprotected, its open to contamination by the surface run off. Also, due to the high population of the pupils, as they fetch and step in the water they contaminate it further. The school does have a LifeStraw water filter available, but this is in no way sufficient for the population of the school, especially considering the scarcity of water in general.

This has resulted in many cases of water borne diseases in the school among the pupils and even the teachers. The most common cases reported included malaria, typhoid and stomachache.

Sanitation Facilities

The school sanitation facilities are not also sufficient. They only have 10 VIP latrines that are in use thus 4 doors for the boys, 6 doors for girls. Four are almost full.

Hand washing facilities are also not available in the school. Since water is not sufficient, washing hands after toilet use is not a priority to these pupils, thus very few wash their hands after visiting the toilet.

The head teacher, in collaboration with the school board of management, have submitted an application letter to WEWASAFO appealing for help to put up water and sanitation facilities before the situation gets out of hand. They learned about WEWASAFO through the WASH project at Ebukuya and Ebussamba primary schools.

The community has already started gathering the required local materials and sinking the pit for the VIP latrines.

Project Results:

Rainwater Harvesting Tank

Construction of a rainwater harvesting tank for Ebulondi Primary School is complete and now in use by students and staff. The school now has access to clean water within its own compound. Whenever students get thirsty during the day, they have access to un-rationed water from the tank. The only time this water is ever rationed is during the dry season, generally from December to February. Students no longer have to lug water from home to school. In fact, the school even has enough water to clean classrooms and latrines on a daily basis.

VIP Latrines

Construction of four VIP (ventilation improved pit) latrines is complete and they are now in use. The long queues that were seen during class break have been greatly shortened. However, since the new latrines are cleaner and more comfortable, those four lines are normally much longer.

Hand-Washing Facilities

Two hand-washing facilities were delivered to and installed in the school compound near the latrines. Since these are the only available hand-washing stations in the school, congestion around these facilities is always very high. WEWASAFO encouraged the Student Health Club to come up with an improvised solution for hand-washing, such as tippable tin containers filled with water. Conditions are already improving thanks to sufficient water for drinking, cooking, hand-washing, and cleaning.

The Water Project and Ebulondi Primary School Thank You for making this possible!

We're just getting started, check back soon!


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!