{"id":211726,"date":"2023-08-10T09:33:00","date_gmt":"2023-08-10T13:33:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/?p=211726"},"modified":"2023-08-29T17:03:35","modified_gmt":"2023-08-29T21:03:35","slug":"making-waves-how-access-to-water-powers-education","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/thewaterproject.org\/community\/2023\/08\/10\/making-waves-how-access-to-water-powers-education\/","title":{"rendered":"Making Waves: How Access to Water Powers Education"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

Last week, we published a blog<\/a> explaining why it\u2019s so hard to become educated in sub-Saharan Africa. This week, we\u2019re back to show how adequate water, hygiene, and sanitation on school grounds can address these issues that cause almost a third of children in sub-Saharan Africa to drop out before they finish primary school.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The below quotes from students of all ages were taken from either our Final Reports, where students have just been given their new water projects, and our Year-After Reports, where students have been living with a nearby source of clean, reliable water for at least a year. In both cases, the differences in their lives are astounding.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Reason #1: Poverty<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Often in sub-Saharan Africa, students\u2019 parents can\u2019t save enough money to pay for school fees, books, uniforms, and other necessities. New water sources restore people\u2019s time and energy, creating space for self-development through exciting new avenues. Access to water also provides opportunities for new or stabler livelihoods.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“This water point has relieved me from the long distance and the challenges of accessing the protected spring within the valley,” said Ahumuza, an 11-year-old boy from Kabo<\/a> Community in Uganda. \u201cCurrently, I am able to help my mother in spraying (watering) her gardens since we now have enough water. This has boosted our household income and has made it easy for my parents to pay for my school fees in time<\/strong>.”<\/p>\n\n\n\n

“[With] the help of my parents, I have started a small vegetable garden,\u201d said Brenda from Shitavita<\/a> Community in Kenya. \u201cTo add on that, when the vegetables are ready, I will sell [them] and get money which will pay my school fees and buy some textbooks<\/strong>. My performance will improve.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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Brenda.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

“My life in school has been so disheartening for lack of fees,\u201d said ten-year-old Maxwel from Mwituwa<\/a> Community in Kenya. \u201cTogether with my siblings, the journey has never been easy for us until the water point was protected. We can now afford a smile because our parents can easily pay our school fees<\/strong> from the amount [of money] they get from the products gotten through irrigation using the water point [for] farming.” <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“[I]…have managed to set up a small garden [where] I grow vegetables and fruits since watering them has never been a challenge because the water source is very reliable,\u201d said 19-year-old Esther Akasa from Bukhakunga<\/a> Community. \u201cI later sell the vegetables and fruits using the money acquired to pay part of school requirements, hence reducing the burden experienced by my parents when it comes to school fees.<\/strong>“<\/p>\n\n\n

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Esther.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

“I used to get tired [from] carrying water from home to school every day. I never liked it at all,” said Bilal from Eluche Primary School<\/a> in Kenya. “I can easily access water for drinking, and even cleaning whenever I need to. I am no longer worried about [the] mornings [like] when I used to carry water to school. I am happy that I can sit in a clean environment and concentrate on my studies. I plan to study hard so that I can pass [my] exams and achieve my dream of saving our family from poverty.<\/strong>\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n

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Bilal outside a school building.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

Reason #2: Walking Long Distances<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Sub-Saharan Africa doesn\u2019t have school buses to pick kids up from faraway locations. For kids whose schools don\u2019t have water on school grounds, this means extra trouble, because they are often asked to carry water to school with them in the morning and then to leave class and gather water from unprotected sources. All this walking and carrying leaves students exhausted. But with water right on school grounds, students walk less and carry less, giving them energy to spare.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cBefore the construction of this water tank, we used to carry jerrycans of water to school every day for cleaning the classrooms, latrines and watering the plants in the school compound,\u201d said 11-year-old Baraka from Kavyuni Salvation Army Primary School<\/a> in Kenya. <\/p>\n\n\n

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Students from Kavyuni Salvation Army Primary School show off crops they\u2019ve been able to grow thanks to the water in their high-capacity rainwater harvesting tank.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

\u201cI used to walk for a very long distance to fetch water because we also did not have a lot of water at home,\u201d Baraka continued. \u201cWalking for the long distances in the morning to fetch water also made me very exhausted by the time I arrived at school. Now, I enjoy coming to school in the morning because I do not have to carry jerrycans of water.<\/strong> In the past year, I have been arriving at school on time<\/strong>.\u201d <\/p>\n\n\n\n

“It was so hard because we used to go long distances in search for water,\u201d said 13-year-old Shalyne from Kamulongoji Primary School<\/a>. \u201cIt was tiresome and, more so, time-consuming. Currently, it is easy to get water here because it is located within our proximity.<\/strong> The water itself is very clean because it [is] of [a] known source. I am no longer a victim of waterborne and water-related ailments. Since we get clean water, [I] have time for studies, and this has translated to good performance in academics.”<\/p>\n\n\n

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Shalyne.<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n<\/div>\n\n\n

“I was not feeling good as a child living in a situation without having access to clean and safe drinking [water] in my community unless I [went the] long distance every day in the morning and evening to fetch water from the stream,\u201d said 14-year-old Kadiatu from Ponka<\/a> Community in Sierra Leone. <\/p>\n\n\n\n

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