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Kenya Clean Water in Schools Proposal
Location: Schools near Nakuru, Kenya
Background
For a dozen years, a Rotary project together with a couple of key churches in Fort Collins and Aspen, Colorado have teamed to provide clean water systems and related knowledge to about 100 mostly rural and poor schools in the Meru, Isiolo and Nakuru regions of Kenya. These are schools that had no borehole and no rainwater harvesting. Water at the time of our involvement was either carried from some distance or was not potable or both. Our objective has been to improve school attendance and performance especially for girls by way of better health with less intestinal water-borne disease and education. This is a continuation of that work.
Project Overview
In brief, for those school communities who request our assistance and provide some in-kind help, we will build a rainwater harvest and storage system, filtering and hand-washing stations. This work is all performed by a trusted and experienced Kenyan contractor. The contractor is also an excellent communicator who educates the school children and families on the importance of water, sanitation and hygiene. We plan to collect the current attendance and school test scores as well as anecdotes about children's absences due to health problems. This will form a baseline for tracking the change in future attendance and performance that might be attributed to better WASH behaviors at the school.
In recent years, when we have visited schools, we have distributed washable sanitary products for girls and with teachers conducted education classes separately with boys and girls about puberty. This education is conducted only with the concurrence and participation of the school families and faculty. We plan to continue this work and instruct families on how to make the reusable sanitary products.
A new part of this project is to help build a school vegetable garden and teach gardening-basics to students and faculty. Again, our Kenya contractor who grew-up on a farm will teach this course.
Proposed Cost:
10 schools @ $4000 = $40,000
Note: Like everywhere, inflation is rampant in Kenya at the time of this writing. So, it is possible that fewer schools can be helped if material and labor prices rise further.
Project Detail Summary
At each school:
• Brief the head teacher about the project. Obtain the commitment (or not) of the head teacher and the school community to participate.
• Collect current attendance and school test scores as baseline data.
• Install one 10K liter rainwater storage poly tank
• Install guttering and spouts from school buildings and connect to the 10k tank
• Repair and reconnect any existing guttering and connect to the tank
• Install a minimum of two micro-pore filters for drinking water
• Install a minimum of two hand washing stations
• Construct a small surface water storage pond with a plastic liner to store gray water
• Construct a small vegetable garden are enclosure with fencing
• Purchase or gather donated vegetable seeds
• Train students, faculty and parents about WASH and rudimentary gardening
• Visit schools semi-annually to check on performance and retrain as necessary and report
• Collect and report attendance and school test scores annually for 3 years
Labor
A longtime native contractor for us (Isaac Soita) will design and manage the project using hired labor and school student and parent labor.
Project Management
Our contractor does not have the resources to "front" the funding for water projects. Therefore, funds for materials and labor (about 85% of the total cost) will be sent in advance. Receipts will be sent by the contractor to Rich Fisher before final payment of profit and overhead.
Plans and Expectations
• If/when the rains come, the storage of additional water will improve water supply
• The water filters can be used with the stored rain water and even water from livestock tanks to improve water quality and reduce water-borne disease
• Grow a garden with gray water using the fencing keep smaller animals out
• In time, the students may be able to grow food of sufficient supply to sell with the profits used to improve learning at the school
Cooperator
E-Rotary Club of Rift Valley
Ethans Githinji, Club President 2024-2025
Metricagency@gmail.com
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