KALENDA PRIMARY SCHOOL WATER PROJECT - REHABILITATION
• VILLAGE : KALENDA
• LOCATION : SAMITSI
• SUB-LOCATION : SHIRUGU
• DIVISION : KABRAS CENTRAL
• DISTIRCT : KAKAMEGA NORTH
• COUNTY : KAKAMEGA
BACKGROUND INFORMATION
Kalenda primary is a mixed day public school, which was started in1974 through the efforts of Catholic Missionaries with the aim of eradicating illiteracy in the local community. The pupils of this school come from the local community. The school is found on rocky ground, which has made it difficult for the school management to construct more classrooms. Therefore classrooms are over crowded In the year 1987, Kenya Finland Western Water Supply drilled a borehole that served the pupils and was also able to serve the entire community. With a growing population since 1987 the need to rehabilitate this well is even more relevant today. The well was constructed and installed with Nirah Pump, which served the school until the year 2013 when it stopped functioning and could not be repaired since no spare parts can be found in the local market for Nirah pumps.
CURRENT WATER SOURCE
Currently Kalenda Primary pupils get water from a spring, which is 500 meters away from the school. The spring is only a seasonal spring and therefore not reliable for school children to depend on throughout the school year.
POPULATION
The school has an enrollment of 480 pupils (218 boys, and 262 girls), 13 teaching staff, 3 support staff, 2 watchmen and 1 cook. (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.)
HYGIENE & SANITATION
Kalenda primary school has permanent classrooms which are swept every evening, and they are washed twice in a week, every Wednesday and Friday evening before pupils go home for the weekend. The school has 6 pits Latrines 2 for girls, 2 for boys and 2 for teachers which are washed every morning on daily basis. There is a kitchen where meals for teachers are prepared. No hand washing point is in the school, but there is a compost pit is in place, where trash is deposited.
ASSESSING THE NEED
There’s need to rehabilitate the proposed Kalenda primary School water point to enable the pupils, teachers and the community to access quality water to improve health standards in the society.
PROJECT BENEFICIARIES
The main beneficiaries will be the pupils, teachers and the indirectly benefit the entire community of Kalenda.
WATER COMMITTEE
The school Management Committee has already appointed amongst themselves a water committee that will take charge of the operation and maintenance of the water point to ensure its sustainability. Bridge Water Project staff will train the pupils and teachers on hygiene and sanitation before implementing this project.
PHASE 1
22nd June-26th June: HYGIENE AND SANITATION TRAINING
Kalenda primary is a mixed school of both boys and girls (girls taking a bigger ratio than boys). The school performs averagely despite the water challenges that the school faces among other challenges.
Kalenda primary school is greatly affected with the poor hygiene and sanitation conditions. Most pupils, both boys and girls, walk bare foot and have torn and dirty uniforms.
The school has few latrines, which do not match the ratio between boys and girls. No hand washing is done in the school. Due to these conditions, there has been a high occurrence of typhoid and diarrheal diseases among the pupils.
Pupils collect water from a stream using dirty containers which are also used as storage containers.
To help address these problems, the school was trained on several aspects of good practices of hygiene and sanitation. The aspects include;
a) Hand washing.
b) Fetching and drinking clean water.
c) Use of latrine; importance and risks of using a latrine.
d) The clean school and its environment.
e) Germ free food.
f) How to prevent diarrhea.
g) Personal hygiene.
Due to the training, the school’s health club and the management of the school had to ensure;
i. Use and maintenance of all the latrines in school.
By proper maintenance, the latrines will be clean, locked, clear path to the latrine and no presence of flies and smell.
ii. Proper hand washing.
This is done after visiting latrines and before eating; by so doing, the school has to ensure availability of hand washing facility, soap, and water.
iii. Good personal hygiene.
The school has to help the pupils have clean clothes, trimmed fingernails, short and neat hair, clean face and body and clean handkerchiefs.
iv. Maintaining cleanness of the school compound and the classrooms.
This will be made possible by making duty rosters, regular observations, and availability of cleaning materials.
v. Organize school hygiene and sanitation events;
These are to be done through a program of hygiene events (interclass competitions, hand-washing days).
PHASE 2:
22nd JUNE-26th JUNE: PAD CONSTRUCTION
The bridge water project construction team mobilized to the site in preparation for the construction of the well pad. The pupils and teachers were present and were ready to help where possible.
Having materials availed on the ground, the men begun to work as the pupils helped in collecting water from the stream to be used for construction work.
The school prepared meals for the men on work.
The work was well done and the pad was left to cure for four days there after the pump will be installed and handed over.
PHASE 3:
29TH JULY-1st JULY: PUMP INSTALLATION AND HANDING OVER
The service team mobilized to Kalenda primary school for pump installation. The school was eagerly waiting for this project to be completed so as to quickly start enjoying its services.
The process was done successfully without any challenges. Once the process was over, the well was handed over to the school pupils and teachers who were excited and happy.
The rehabilitation of the well was a reason for their happiness since more problems of walking distances looking for water and drinking it dirty had come to an end.
In addition, the head teacher anticipated for good academic and curriculum results since the pupils will no longer waste time in search of good and clean water.
The existence of the rehabilitated well is also anticipated to bring a positive impact on the hygiene and sanitation condition of this school.
