FACE Africa is conducting a WASH in Schools program to improve the future of children in remote Rivercess County, Liberia. Strengthening WASH provision in schools is a key first step to recovery from Ebola. By expanding our safe water point and sanitation network to schools across the county, and by providing comprehensive hygiene training and education, we can keep children safe and healthy so that they can learn, grow and prosper as part of resilient communities.
Rivercess is one of the most impoverished and underserved populations in Liberia. The county ranks as having the country's poorest level of access to sanitation and second poorest level of access to safe drinking water in primary schools, with most relying on contaminated surface water for drinking. As a result, schoolchildren and their communities are left vulnerable to preventable diseases, preventing them from receiving the education they need to thrive.
FACE Africa will expand its network of safe water points and latrines so that every school in Rivercess has the vital infrastructure needed to keep schoolchildren safe. As the same time, FACE Africa will expand its hygiene education and awareness program, working to train teachers, school staff and PTA members on school hygiene protocols. We will also directly teach children the value of safe water, handwashing, basic hygiene and sanitation, and support the formation of student-led WASH clubs.
This project will support the completion of the first phase of our WASH in schools project, which will ensure that all 26 of schools and 2,345 students in the Central Rivercess Education District have access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene education. Such access is vital to disease prevention, to preventing a possible resurgence of the Ebola virus specifically, and to ensuring that schoolchildren remain healthy and receive the education they need to thrive.
