Clean Water & Sanitation for Kenyan Primary School

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