GlobalGiving.org: Water & Sanitation ensure 2000 Kenyan girls learn

School fees for the new term

Allan Mwembe — Wed, 25 Jan 2012 09:41:04 GMT

Hallo,

Happy new year, On behalf of the supported girls in Kisii and the organization get their warmest greetings and thanks, dear ones we really appreciate the contribution that you have contributed during the last year that really empowered the

girls.So far the 252 $ contribution received has already catered for 3 girls whom we choose as the most unfortunate orphans in need of help. 3 girls namely; Vivian Momanyi 9 years, Edna Moraa 12 years and Christine Kibagendi 12 years are now successfully enrolled in Kiangoso Primary School.They have also been provide with supporting material such as 5 exercise books and 3 pens each for the children.

With your continued support we hope and expect that by the end of this year we will be able to take 10+ orphans to enroll and also be able to provide them will school uniforms.

On behalf of Vivian, Edna, Edna and others we wish you a happy new year.

Thank you

Sanitary towels to pupils in Kiangoso and Nyaisa

Allan Mwembe — Wed, 26 Oct 2011 08:15:55 GMT

girls receiving pads in Nyaisa primary school

The adolescence girls from the Kiangoso and Nyaisa primary school in Manga District received each a packet of sanitary pad. Our staff led by Ms.Jeria Naomi and female teachers of the schools distributed the pads to the girls who were mostly between the ages of 12 – 14.

HWF had informed the two schools of the scheduled distribution of sanitary pads and the pupils were so eager for us. We arrived amid joy as girls could not hide their celebration on seeing our Project Vehicle arrive at the school. We were told noted girls who frequently miss school were on this day present mainly for the provisions to follow.

Through the Local Hospital – Manga District Hospital who provided a Health Officer to coordinate the reproductive and sanitation trainings we were able to provide trainings to the girls on their sanitations and reproductive health, sensitive them on the importance of cleanliness and proper use of the sanitary towels.

We started the activity of the day on Kiangoso primary school from 9.00 am till 12.00 a.m where we proceeded to the second school Nyaisa primary school from 2.30 pm till 4.00 pm on the same day. The two primary school administrations were cooperative as they disrupt their learning schedule to accommodate us in their schools.The local Hospital – Manga District Hospital provided us with the Health Officer to facilitate the trainings to the girls.

We provided quality sanitary pads known as “always” and each girl received a packet. A total of about 130 girls received the sanitary towels. In Kiangoso primary school 56 girls received a packet each and in Nyaisa primary school 74 girls each received a packet.

“I thank all the donors from Global Giving who have contributed towards me receiving the sanitary pads, I urge them to continue with their support and God bless u” Mercy Naboke – Pupil in Nyaisa primary school.

Currently through this project we have reached 3 primary schools in Manga this year alone and we aim to reach 12 primary school by March 2012 through provision of sanitary pads. We would have loved to provide the sanitary towels to the pupils every month so as to be able to meet their monthly menstruation needs but due to insufficient funds we have resolved to atleast distribute to them once we are in receipt of the funds. We urge you our supporters to continue your assistance so that we could be able to give this girls the lives they deserve.

HWF staff training the girls

Reproductive health training by Health Officer

girl demostrating use of pad

Project Output realized

Allan Mwembe — Thu, 28 Jul 2011 12:12:16 GMT

Health and Water Foundation through this program has been able to meet the specific objectives that were envisioned to help 2000 girls learn since the inception of this project in 2007 and all thanks to your provisions.

The specific benefits realized are;

So far, pupils especially girls are now spending more time in school doing class works. This has been realized because:

Marginalized girls have received school uniforms and are able to attend school confidently and concentrate
Fewer pupils absent themselves from school due diarrhea and other diseases. These cases have reduced so far.
School girls are now more comfortable and they are no longer tempted to skip school when they have their periods. The wash rooms provided and the training given have improved their morale and confidence in handling their menstruations
The risk of molestation and rape cases of schoolgirls has been reduced due to enhanced privacy of sanitary facilities. Girls are no longer spied on nor teased by boys when they visit the toilets/wash rooms

The following outcomes are expected to be realized in the long run.

Higher levels of education amongst girls.
Increased empowerment for women
Reduced disease incidents due to availability of safe water and improved sanitation to children including 40 disabled ones, teachers and staff

Sexual Maturation, FGM and use of Sanitary Towels/Pads.

This training has been conducted to girls and provision of sanitary towels to them, We are making sure that affected girls do not miss school due to lack of sanitary towels and we have developed a mechanism of distributing sanitary towels to 5 schools in Manga District, Kenya.

The outputs were

Sanitary towels provided for girls.
Training on general hygiene provided to the teachers.
Training on alternative initiation rites other than FGM.

Conclusion

The program continues to receive urgent requests for assistance with your help and we aim to reduce sanitation risks in schools in Manga District by constructing toilets in schools as some schools are having a desperate situation; the toilets have collapsed and schools face the prospect of being closed down on health grounds. In order to solve the toilet sanitation issues on toilets we require approximately USD 25,000 in order to construct toilets in five schools.We know your assistance would really help.Thank you.

Progress report as to date

Allan Mwembe — Tue, 03 May 2011 05:38:48 GMT

Hello dear ones, As to date since the year 2010,Water & Sanitation ensure 2000 Kenyans girl learn project, 5 schools in Manga District,Nyamira County have benefited directly thanks to your generous contributions.The project has benefited approximately 474 pupils in respective schools in Manga District.Your contributions has ensured that up to 320 girls pupils in primary school have adequate sanitary pads and equipped with necessary hygiene trainings. 7 pupils are now happy to attend school after provision of full school uniforms, 80 pupils have benefited from PHAST ( Participation Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation) trainings which has equipped them with training necessary to enhance their personal hygiene. The project is continuing at a good pace with a large number of beneficiaries being reached every Quarter of year.We HWF thank you for your continued support through your generous contributions. Thank you all.

Girls in 3 schools trained on handwashing

Allan Mwembe — Mon, 14 Feb 2011 10:54:00 GMT

Health and Water Foundation (HWF) once again takes this opportunity to thank you for your endless support to ensure that the girl child education in Kenya and Kisii County is successful.

During the month of December 2010 (in which schools in Kenya go for Christmas holiday) we were able to call the girls back to school through request from their respective school Heads in order to facilitate the girls training on the importance of sanitation and hygiene that was scheduled for 1 day event per school. The focus was placed in maintenance of hygiene through handwashing the reason behind this handwashing training was because of the noted alarming increase in waterborne diseases (especially typhoid and a few cases of cholera) in the area .A feasibility study carried out by the Ministry of Public Health in Kisii District revealed that most school going children affected by typhoid were as a result of lack of proper hygiene practice at home and at schools.

The hygiene training with focus on handwashing training and awareness was conducted by Health and Water Foundation personnell in 3 primary schools;Kerongo Primary school,Tombe Primary school and Nyakongo Primary school which had a high number of affected pupils as a result of typhoid.The monthly disbursement of $174.50 you sent to us which is equivalent to 14,134.50 Kenya Shilings was able to cater for; 3 medium water tanks,3 basins,3 boxes ( full set of bar soap) for handwahing which was distributed to the 3 schools respectively.

The training was made successful by the help of female teachers, who helped us to train the pupils on how they are supposed to maintain their overall hygiene, always wash their hands after visiting latrines, maintaining a habit of washing hands before and after taking food, the girls also were training on maintenance of proper hygiene during their monthly periods and other areas and to pass the message “Umuhimu wa usafi na kuelimisha mtoto msichana”- “the importance of cleanliness and the girl education”. This is due to the fact that mainly many girls fail to go to school on normally because they cant afford to buy sanitary towels.

Teachers and parents alike have reported continued intrest in their girl children to education since the inception of this project “Water & Sanitation ensure 2000 Kenyans girls learn”. They attribute that nowadays most of their daughters yearn to be in school and do not abscond classes as used to happen before. Though not all the girls in the region have been reached, Health and Water Foundation is always getting requests from different schools to come and implement such projects so to encourage the girl-child education. We are really grateful for the support you donors are giving to our girls in our society to ensure their continued education.

The teachers also suggested that we should also think of training the women in the areas to ensure sanitation is at hand and to improve the status of a woman in the society.Thank you all

Training on improved hygiene practices

Allan Mwembe — Fri, 26 Nov 2010 08:56:56 GMT

Hello, once again we would like to thank you all for your continued support on our project that is really building up the girls in our community and the community as a whole.The past month (September and October, 2010) we were able to conduct training on improved hygiene practices especially to girls in primary schools, the beneficiaries were 80 adolescent girls from Nyambaso and Kiangoso Primary schools.This was made possible by the disbursement that we received on September towards this project. " baada ya kupata mafundisho haya nitaweza kuwa msafi kama vile wanawake wanapaswa kuwa na pia nitaweza kuwafundisha familia yangu usafi huo," (after getting this training i am now able to keep better hygiene practices as women should and i am also able to help my family to keep the same hygiene conditions) " Stella Nyakongi a pupil at Nyambaso Primary school. The training was carried out well with our staffs with the help of the teachers (female teachers).It was a success and many pupils recommended we do the training also to the women in the community so that the overall hygiene condition of the Nyambaso and Kiangoso community can be improved. We thank you all for the support given toward this project.Merry Christmas all "Give and it will be given unto you" Bible

Sanitary towels and uniforms distribution

Allan Mwembe — Fri, 10 Sep 2010 07:28:33 GMT

Distributing sanitary towels

The distribution of sanitary towels and uniforms to the disadvantaged girl students of Bitundugusu primary school in Manga District was done on 6th September, 2010 which was on the opening school day of the term.The school committee through the Headteacher welcomed the initiative.The Health and Water Foundation staffs with The Project Officer Ms. Grace Wacharo capacity build and sensitized the girls on the importance of cleanliness and the proper use of the sanitary towels.This was done in collaboration with the female teachers of Bitundugusu primary school.

We provided new school uniforms to 5 girls and 2 boys who lacked the school uniforms and used to wear casually to school. The 7 students who received the uniforms were very grateful

The beneficiary of sanitary towels were 67 girls of age between 10 to 14 who are adolescence.The students were happy to receive the sanitary towels and they thanked the donors for their contribution and the Health and Water Foundation for their good work.

" Asante sana kwa kutupa pads hizi ambazo ni muhimu kwetu kwa kuwa zitaimarisha usafi wetu na kutufanya tuzingatie masomo" (Thank you so much for the provision of pads for our cleanliness which will ensure our comfortability and continuity of our education) - Mary Kemunto a std 7 pupil in Bitundugusu primary school.

"We thank you for your continuous contribution toward this girls in Bitundugusu primary school in Manga District,Nyanza Province, Kenya."

Health and Water Foundation through your contributions and donations is set to improve water and sanitation to enure girls learn in Manga District for the current period.

Thank you

New school uniforms.

Distribution of Sanitation facilities to the girl child

Allan Mwembe — Fri, 28 May 2010 11:22:30 GMT

Bitundugusu primary students adviced on sanitary

We HWF with beneficiaries from the primary schools in Kenya (Nyanza Province Girls) thank you for your continuing support that has ensured that a majority percentage of girls are being enrolled in schools thanks to the support gained from GLOBAL GIVING.

During the past 5 months HWF has embarked on activities aimed at ensuring that the girl child is kept at school.One of the major steps taken to ensure the continuity of girls in school was the distribution of Sanitary towels in 2 schools in Manga District, Nyanza Province in Kenya.The lack of proper sanitation for the girls pupils in primary schools acts as a reason for lower enrolment of girls students in schools with some of them absconding classes due to lack of sanitary towels.

The sanitary towels was distributed to 3 Primary schools to children aged 13 onwards and these were of standard 7 and 8 ( Kenya Curricular of classes in Primary education) .The schools that benefited from these towels were as follows:-

1. Rianyabwanga Primary school - 168 girls benefited 2. Kiangoso Primary School - 72 girls benefited 3.Bitundugusu Primary School - 80 girls benefited

Due to the large number of girls in school in the regions, it was not possible to supply the sanitary towels to 9 other schools in the region that had students who lack the basic sanitary needs.HWF assured their school heads that through donor community and GLOBAL GIVING initiative , more students in the remaining 9 schools will be provided with sanitary towels and training facilities to ensure that more than 2000 Kenyan girls learn comfortably and competitively.

With the continuing support from Globalgiving and wellwishers,HWF plans to provide sanitary needs to female students who have reached menses in 12 Primary schools in Manga District, Nyanza District,Kenya.This will inturn keep the girl child in school and further their learning environment.

What do you think on this progress of keeping Kenyan girls in school?

sanitary towel beneficiary - Bitundugusu primary

Rianyabwanga primary students - sanitary towels

sanitary towels beneficiary - Rianyabwanga school

Visiting the Health and Water Foundation in Kenya

Leah Ambwaya — Wed, 28 Oct 2009 14:42:29 GMT

Our appointment with Health & Water Foundation was for 09:30hrs with the program officer, Mr. Munuve. We were warmly ushered into the office not so far from the Nairobi central business district - a well organized office with a sizable team welcomed us and got straight to business about the project.

The project was started in 2003 and its main mandate was to provide water and sanitation in Nyanza province, but later diversified to HIV/AIDS training and facilitation. They supply the rural communities with clean and safe water, build piped water harvesting equipment, latrines and dig boreholes.

According to Mr. Munuve, their method and approach in the region is very effective because of good weather and good reception from the communities, who provide support in terms of labor, food and materials. but their biggest challenge is mostly funds since they have not been able to dig any boreholes. Amongst their projects they initiated a program in the community schools called the "hand wash" to facilitate hygiene on latrines by building toilet blocks, and supplying soap and hand washing facilities.

They also provide sanitary and sanitation training to school and community girls which has stemmed up absenteeism in schools, improved performance, reduced water borne diseases and improved hygiene.

About Mr. Munuve

He is a program officer with Health and Water Foundation who joined in 2006 and since has learnt a lot in donor relations, project planning, and implementation. He is mostly driven by the fact that the organization gives back to the community and enables him interact with different people and cultures. "Our work has directly improved on individual school performance and absenteeism by reducing the number of children in these communities involved in providing water and sanitation," he said.

In addition to visiting the staff, GlobalGiving evaluations usually involve interviews with the people in the community served. However, in this case, we could not give a conclusive take on this as we were not able to talk directly to any of the beneficiaries. Furthermore, the accounts were not made available to us.

We like to know whether the community knows about the project and whether they support it.

According to Munuve, the project is supported by the community. When projects and construction is going on, the members of the community provide free labour. Stones and building bricks are also contributed. The community also offers to cook and provide lunch during when construction works are going on.

You can read a detailed report (attached below).

Attachments:

Keeping Girls in School Through Water and Sanitation Program (Project 1609)– Update

Samo Odawo — Thu, 16 Apr 2009 18:29:58 GMT

The aim of this project was to improve the hygienic and sanitation state of the school which was appalling, although the main focus of the project was the improvement of girls’ school attendance, the bad conditions of toilets also affected the boys, hence separate latrines for boys and girls were built in the school.

Funds so far received by Health and Water Foundation from donors through Global Giving have been used to provide participatory hygiene training and providing sanitary ware to girls.

Specific Benefits

So far, pupils especially girls are now spending more time in school doing class works. This has been realized because:

• Pupils no longer spend time outside classes fetching water for use at school. The tanks have water almost all the time • Fewer Pupils absent themselves from school due diarrhea and other diseases. These cases have reduced so far. • School Girls are now more comfortable and they are no longer tempted to skip school when they have their periods. The wash rooms provided and the training given have improved their morale and confidence in handling their menstruations • The risk of molestation and rape cases of schoolgirls has been reduced due to enhanced privacy of sanitary facilities. Girls are no longer spied on nor teased by boys when they visit the toilets/wash rooms

The following outcomes are expected to be realized in the long run.

• Higher levels of education amongst girls. • Increased empowerment for women • Reduced disease incidents due to availability of safe water and improved sanitation to children including 40 disabled ones, teachers and staff

Hygiene education and PHAST

Participatory Hygiene and Sanitation Transformation (PHAST) training was undertaken to capacity build and enable the school pupils have knowledge and skills on water, hygiene and sanitation. This training was provided by HWF staff. Hygiene education is about encouraging people to adopt good practices in order to prevent illness. The exercise was for promotion purposes and aimed at removing constrain to safe hygiene practices associated with lack of water and sanitation.

The training were done in schools (most of which hosted pupils from Internally Displaced Persons) families.At the end of the activity, the facilitators summed up the session by identifying the diseases that are caused by contaminated water and poor sanitation. The girls were informed of:

• Lack of adequate water for personal hygiene may result in increased spread of diseases such as diarrhea, dysentery, scabies, and eye diseases. • The use of adequate quantity of water leads to reduction of water-washed diseases. • Contaminated water may carry germs which cause disease such as typhoid, cholera, amoebas and hepatitis (water borne diseases) • Water is necessary for breeding of mosquitoes and bilharzias. Diseases caused by such vectors are called water related diseases. Examples of such diseases are malaria, schistosomiasis (Bilharzias) • Diseases caused by poor sanitation are known as excreta disposal related diseases.

CHAST and CTC (Child To Child) when used together encourage a child-to-child approach. The HWF staff led by water, sanitation and settlement specialist Mr. Reuben Kibegwa introduced these methods to the Schools targeting girls especially.

These methods will have important effects on the children because:

• Child to child approaches link what the children do in class with what they do out of class and at home and help children grow up into responsible adults • They give children new knowledge and skills and a better understanding of what they are doing. They also make learning more interesting and fun • They give a new look to health education in school, previously, children were taught facts about their own health, but these new methods encourage children to take health action for themselves and others- this targeted girls especially during menstrual periods. • They encourage children to work in a group, which helps them develop self-respect and a sense of worth.

Sexual Maturation, FGM and use of Sanitary Towels/Pads.

This training was conducted to the girl children from Rirumi Primary School. It also involved all female teachers and selected female parents.

Sexual Development of Girls

Girls go through five stages of development during puberty. Girls usually start to show the physical changes of puberty between the ages of 9 and 13, which is slightly sooner than boys. The female sex hormone called estrogen and other hormones cause the physical changes. Many girls are fully developed by the age of 16. Some girls will continue to develop through age 18.

The outputs were

• Sanitary towels provided for girls. • Training on general hygiene provided to the teachers. • Training on alternative initiation rites other than FGM.

Conclusion

The big program plans to cover over more 15 needy primary schools and we are continuing to source financial assistance, but faces a number of challenges. The main challenge is getting funds fast enough to cover the schools at US$ 25,000 per school. The program continues to receive urgent requests for assistance. In some schools the situation is desperate; the toilets have collapsed and schools face the prospect of being closed down on health grounds.

Attachments:

globalgiving report 2009.doc (DOC)

Health and Water Foundation Report from Kenya

Evans Misati James — Wed, 19 Mar 2008 19:17:28 GMT

Health and Water Foundation (HWF) is grateful for the support the GlobalGiving Foundation has granted aimed at assisting the families of the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) in Ekerenyo D.O’s camp and Riatengeya Chiefs Camp in Nyamira district. These have enabled HWF to reach out to the affected IDPs in the camps and those from the host communities to address the challenges facing the internally displaced people in Nyamira district INTRODUCTION

Following the announcement of the election results on the 30th of December 2007, violence erupted countrywide between various communities resulting in loss of lives, injuries, looting, and destruction of property and displacement of thousands of people. Up to 500,000 people- mainly children and women-were displaced. Thousands of people were stranded without food, shelter, water, fuel and essential medicines. Most of the Internally Displaced People (IDPs) sought shelter in police camps and churches. Rural poor families of Kisii and Nyamira districts, in Nyanza province have been badly affected by the post – election violence. People have lost their houses, productive assets, livestock, clothes, food reserves and have been rendered internally displaced people (IDPs). The signing of the peace agreement has heralded the return of the IDPs back to there home.

Health and Water Foundation (HWF) is spearheading the humanitarian emergency operations in kisii, Masaba and Nyamira districts. HWF is covering the major camps in the region the Ekerenyo camp and Riatengeya chiefs’ camps in Nyamira district, Kisii Cathedral in Kisii District and Keroka camp in Masaba District.

Global Giving:

HWF received a donation of US$500 toward assisting the IDPs, the donation was used to undertake rapid assessment on the ground to appraise the needs of the IDPs and also the funds were used to support logistical work in assisting the IDPs.Through the GlobalGiving Funds which enabled us carry out assessment and logistical support HWF is fundraising for funds in UNICEF and United Nations Organization Coordination Humanitarian Assistance(UNOCHA) Flash Appeal in order to assist the IDPs in the camps and in early recovery to their normal livelihoods in the water and sanitation and settlement sectors. The monetary assistance helped HWF undertake transportation and distribution of food items and non food items.

CONCLUSION

There is an urgent need to reach out to the IDPs in the Riatengeya, Ekerenyo and Kisii Cathedral with family kits to alleviate the suffering in the camps. Health and Water Foundation (HWF) is requesting more assistance to help the IDPs in the long term recovery to sustainable livelihoods. HWF will also request assistance to supply safe drinking water to the IDPs in the camps and to improve the sanitation condition.

HWF is working ensure that the IDPs in the camps and host communities are assisted with their daily needs and early recovery. We extend thanks to Global Giving Foundation for the assistance you accorded the Kenyan people and kindly request Global Giving Foundation to avail any assistance to help the IDPs in short term and long term recovery.