Clean Water & Sanitation for Kenyan Primary School

Happy New Month July 2016!

I am pleased to share with you our developments for the past three months at Murichu Primary School, Kenya WASH Project, I had said I will keep you posted. Happy reading!

Background

The following are the project components: (a) construction of 75m3 masonry rainwater storage tank; (b) installation of gutters including a foul-flush system; (c)Construction of draw-off point for pupils; (d) construction of gender-segregated VIP latrines (blocks for girls, boys, and teachers); and (e) training of pupils and community on good hygiene practices.

Project Implementation Status

Procurement of Construction Material

The procurement process for the supply of construction material was done through competitive bidding. The selected supplier has already supplied all the construction material for the tank as per the BoQ/LPO and paid as per signed deliver notes and invoice. The quality of the material was ascertained before the payment was done. The material is on site and well secured after delivered.

Construction of the 75m3 water storage tank

The construction process has so far achieved the following activities:

a) Site identification, clearance and set-up

The siting of the tank location was done during the project launching meeting on May14, 2016.

Site clearance involved the removal of vegetative from the identified site.

Setting out the tank entailed identification of a reference point that marked the center of the tank. Then a radius 3.4 m in reference to the tank center was used to determine the internal and external circumference of the tank.

b) Tank foundation

Excavation of the foundation strip, which went up to 1.5m due to the deep of unsuitable clay soil. The five reinforcement concrete (1:2:3 mix ratio) columns’ footings of 0.6x0.6x0.6m were dug up to 2.1m – up to the stable murram layer.

The foundation walls were constructed with three courses of 9x9x9-inches quarry stones using mortar joint ratio mix of 1:3 including along the two diameters cross-sections – from the four side reinforced columns.

The tank foundation was filled with hardcore (rubble stones), which was compacted up to the level of the walls. The spacing between the wall and the excavated pit was also filled with compacted hardcore.

The Y12 reinforcement net was placed at 150mm spacing and well secured with bidding wire, and then the concrete slab (1:2:3 mix ratio) was casted.

The tank capacity will be increased by an extra depth of 0.75m due to the deep tank foundation – this will be more cost-effective instead of filling the extra depth with hardcore.

AI would like to thank you for your generous contributions, Murichu Primary will soon have enough WASH facilities, and handwashing will drastically reduce cases of diarrhoea. Absenteeism will go down too as water will now be available within the school. Clean water and sanitation has the potential to make a difference in children’s lives. Kids need clean water to be healthy, to grow and thrive, to attend school regularly, and to fulfil their potential.

Thank you so much for your continued support and collaboration, together we can! Enjoy reading and have a fruitful month ahead!

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Greetings from Kenya Rainwater Association, I trust you are well!

 Kenya Rainwater Association continues to sincerely thank each and every one of you for the continued support on this journey of promoting rainwater harvesting for water and sanitation in Kenyan rural primary schools. KRA has again identified another school to benefit from the generous contributions from this forum and other well-wishers.

 Murichu primary school is located in Murichu Sub-location of Murichu Location, Ndaragua Division, Nyandarua North District, Nyandarua County, Kenya. The area is semi-arid and the people living  here are financially challenged

 Today the school has an enrollment of 138 boys and 128 girls and a total population of 266 pupils. The members of staff in this school by gender are 6 male and 2 female teachers making a total of 8 members of staff.

 Source of Water

Water for watering the classrooms is drawn from a dam which is about 800m away and which is also a potential danger to our pupils especially the ones from lower classes who can drawn easily.

 Sanitation

The school has wooden and dilapidated toilets and pupils find it difficult to use them. Pupils shield their peers as use the latrines since most of them have fallen doors.

Children are the most important resource in a society and their well-being especially while in school affects their day to day life in terms of good performance and emotional growth. Creating a conducive learning environment is therefore an essential factor to consider in achieving this goal. For this reason, KRA has made it a priority to provide access to clean and safe water and proper sanitation facilities in primary schools, which in most rural settings still remains a huge challenge and a contributing factor to school drop outs and poor performance. The intervention views children as agents of change in the promotion and adoption of best practices in the community and society at large. It focuses on the following core principles:

a)         Construction of 75m3 masonry rainwater storage tank;

b)         Installation of guttering systems including a foul-flash system;

c)         Construction of gender segregated improved sanitary facilities (VIP latrines) for boys, girls and teachers

d)         Community and pupils training on improved sanitation and hygiene.

The construction works are to begin this month and I shall surely keep you posted!

This year we look forward to doing more than one school with your continued support, collaboration and friendship.

Thank you and God bless you