Primary School Water and Sanitation

The school suffers from poor academic performance. The given reasons are: Poor water and sanitation facilities, Indiscipline, Lack of sufficient books and Understaffing. Development of the Water and Sanitation facilities at the school is seen as one of the steps needed to improve the school performance of the students. These facilities will benefit both boys and girls who need safe water and sanitation facilities, especially the girls during the menstruation periods.

Goals overview

The water is distributed to toilets, taps for drinking and the school horticulture project. With the provision of safe drinking water, sanitation and washing facilities there will be less water borne diseases and enhanced school performance by allowing the school pupils time to concentrate in class. Horticulture proceeds will be used for buying sanitary towels for the poor girls and to employ additional teachers. Training includes operation & maintenance of the facilities and hygiene education.

Current status

The school has 1 rain water harvesting tank (2000 litres). The water demand exceeds the amount of rainfall harvested and the water quality is poor due to a rusty roof, affecting the students' health and reducing school attendance. The nearest water source is the Siaya Bondo Water supply system, 500 meters away. The current toilets pose a health risk, are grossly inadequate and poorly constructed and the Public Health Department has recommended immediate replacement. The open bathroom does not provide adequate privacy for pupils, especially girls who need to clean themselves during the menstruation periods.

Project plan

Project Justification
The school lacks safe water for drinking and sanitation use since the only other available source, is located more than 400 metres away, and is unsafe. This water source is controlled by the community, who do not see supplying the school as a priority. It forces school children to manage without water, which causes poor sanitation especially for girls. The few who manage to get water use it for drinking without treatment and this causes water borne diseases like typhoid and diarrhea.
The project aims to provide clean and safe water to the school and provide enough toilets for the children, with gender friendly ones to the girls. This will reduce the occurrence of water borne diseases as well as reduce the time spent fetching water and thus allowing students to concentrate in class. It will also reduce the interaction time with the many idlers around the water source, who negatively influence the children, encouraging them to participate in drug taking and sexual activities.
The water will be tapped from the main water tank to the school using water pipes then stored in a water tank where it will be distributed to various places like the toilets and specific points for drinking and for the schools horticulture project. The horticulture proceeds will be used for buying sanitary towels for the girls who cannot afford to buy them. The proceeds will also be used to employ additional teachers by the school board thereby reducing the shortage of teachers.

The Activities of the Project:
1. Trenching from the available water source 500 meters away from the school and
2. Laying of pipes in the trenches.
3. Construction of 2 storage tanks of 10 cubic meters and inbuilt dosing chambers for improved water quality at water points
4. Construction of 6 standpipes in at appropriate places to enable easy access for lower and upper primary and reduce overcrowding
5. Construction of 3 two-doors improved ventilated pit latrines (VIP); 1 for boys and 2 for girls which will have a washing area. This is to help the girls during their menstrual periods for proper hygiene.
6. Sensitisation on hygiene and public health.

Other results:
1. The school performance of boys and, especially, girls will improve,
2. Higher enrolment figures and reduced absenteeism for girls,
3. Increased security and reduction of indiscipline cases,
4. Reduced numbers of water borne diseases,
5. Improved hygiene practises in the communities because of lessons learned at schools,
6. Improved school community relationship,
7. Improved economic activity with horticulture, dairy farming,
8. And overall improved standard of living.

The Community is prepared to contribute Euro 100, in cash and kind, to the project.

The project has an elected management committee whose membership comprises of the school head, some parents and the local administration of the area. The current committee has been in office since 2005, operational by-laws have been established. It has 3 governance structure, PTA, School management committee and the school administration. The committee comprises of 5 women and 8 men. Regularly scheduled committee meetings are held and minutes kept. There are sensitisation campaigns running currently to sensitise the community on the water project and their expected involvement. The management committee members will manage the water project on a daily basis, as no staff will be employed initially but after about one month a water seller will be employed. The group management is relatively young and requires strengthening and motivation for effective management which will be done by a local NGO in the area. A separate bank account for the water project will be opened and operated by the elected officials. The water will be sold at an affordable price per 20 litre containers as is the common measurement in the area. The money collected will be used for maintenance, paying the water seller and starting horticulture farming for sale to the community. School based management: Key aspect of operation and maintenance is facilitate the establishment of school based safe water and hygiene club within the school to create increased peer knowledge sharing.