Toilets Reduce Absentees for 200 Kenyan Students

As we continue to try and identify another recipient for a school latrine, our efforts have been temporarily hampered by yet another recent lockdown of Kisumu and 12 other counties, due to COVID19. When we reported last time, we were beginning the process of looking for another school that we could partner with to build another toilet. But with the lockdown and high COVID19 rates in the areas we work in, it became impossible for our program coordinator to travel to the field and participate in the vetting process of the schools. 

During this time, we've had to shift our focus towards emergency food distributions that have been implemented by our partners, Nazarene Compassionate Organization, thanks to their staff member, Dr. Samuel Oketch who lives in the area. We are incredibly grateful to NCO and Dr. Oketch, without whom, just about all of our work would have been stalled. Once things have opened up more, we will resume our search for another school, and we will keep you updated as we make progress! Thank you again for your support of this project! 

Though schools in Kenya opened at the beginning of this year, they still had to make up for over two thirds of the previous school year.  Which meant there were a lot of kinks to be worked out. With the up's and down's of trying to navigate this uncertain time, there were also a lot of administration changes at Unami School, where we built the first six-stall toilet.  We soon realized that our original plan to build a second toilet at Unami might not be the best way to move forward. Instead, we came to the conclusion to build the second toilet at another school location that is facing the same struggles Unami was originally.  

So, with the help of partnerships on the ground, we are doing the research to find a second school that is in dire need of a six-stall toilet. We want to be able to help more than just one school become a safe, healthy environment for the students that study there. Thank you again for supporting this project and your patience as we work to make sure that we are being the best possible stewards of your support as we can be!