Availability of Safe and clean water for students has been made one of the SOPs for schools to re-open following thier closure for a year due the COVID 19 pandemic. The Ministry of Education and sports in Uganda has instructed that before any school re-opens for candidates they should be issued with a Certificates of Compliance. For any school to be issued with such a certificate it has to be with safe and clean drinking water at the school for students .
The schools that benfited from the water purifying systems were the first to be issued with certificates of compliance in Lyntonde district in South western Uganda . "Having a water purifying system added a lot for a school to be issued with a Certificate of Compliance and to re- open for her students;" the Inspector of schools in Lyantonde said in an interview with the project staff. All the shools that benefited from this project were the first to open for thier students.
A report from the Headteacher of the befiting school indicate that, waterpurifiers have provided a tusted source of safe and clean water for sudents during this Covid 19 period that require up take of a lot of water by students at school.
As OCE we are very grateful to GlobalGiving and her partners to help us reach this mile stone
“Water is life”! Says Mike (not real name) one of the students at St. John’s Comprehensive secondary school in Lyantonde district Uganda. He is on the team assigned to take care of the installed water purifying system at his school. He said that before the installation of the water purifying system, they used to get water from the school kitchen which is distant from their classrooms but now there is easy access to drinking water as the system was installed close to their classrooms. “Provision of clean and safe drinking water has led to the reduction of water borne illnesses such as typhoid among the students in the school leading to regular school attendance and improved academic performance”
Great thanks to all the donors through GlobalGiving Foundation who have supported OCE’s interventions under the project “Water Facilities for rural Schools in Uganda”.
When we received about 37% of the cost of a water purifying system from our donors through GlobalGiving, we agreed with our contractor to start on the process of installing a water purifying system for this school. However before work could start, Uganda was put under total lockdown; all schools were closed and pupils asked to go home, there was a total ban on all public and private transport which made it impossible to reach the site to start work. Recently there has been a lift on some of the measures like transport. Our Contractor is now ready to start. We shall give more details on the progress of work in our next report as we hope work would have started then. We wish to sincerely thank all our donors for the great contributions made towards this project. May God bless you all. “Together we can”
Girls in schools with water purifying systems have performed relatively better than their counterparts in schools without water purifying systems in Lyantonde district. This is according to the most recent national examination results for 2019. Reports from Mr. Herbat Bakenga the AG District Education Officer for Lyantonde district where this project is implemented indicated that safe and clean drinking water was key in proving a conducive learning environment for enhanced academic performance for the girl children in the district. He further appealed to OCE to reach more schools with such facilities that provide drinking water. In the reporting period, we plan to reach out to another additional school with a water purifying facility. We are grateful to our partners who have made donations on GlobalGiving Foundation to support reach this far.
According to reports from schools that have benefitted from OCE's water purifying systems, there were improvements to students' welfare and health due to their access to clean water. Madame Joan Nakunja, the Head Teacher at St. Gonzaga Senior Secondary School, wrote a letter expressing her gratitude and appreciation.
During the current review period, three more schools were supported by water purifying systems. This has brought the total to 6 schools that have benefited from this project in Lyantonde District.
During this reporting period, Organization for Community Empowerment (OCE) has unfortunately not been able to acquire funding for 'Water Facilities for Rural Schools in Uganda'. However, more and more schools have submitted applications and expressions of interest for the water purifying systems. There is a great need, and once funding has been raised, OCE Lyantonde plans to build water purifying systems in 12 additional schools. OCE fully believes every child deserves clean and safe drinking water and plans to work diligently to make this a reality in Lyantonde.
OCE would like to appreciate the partnership it has with GlobalGiving. These projects would not be possible without it, and we look forward to continued interactions in the future.
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