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Stephen Kanja Water project
The Stephen Kanja Primary School water project was the original project which Sally’s Children’s Trust was set up to support.
Construction on the water project commenced in late 2006, with the objective being to install a sustainable water system that would enable the children of the school and the surrounding area to have access to water throughout the year by capturing water during the rainy season and storing it in sanitary conditions so that during the dry months the school still has an ample source of safe water.
The funds for the water project are to be provided by SCT. Camp Kenya will project manage and facilitate the construction of the water project. |
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Why we want to help
Sally Roberts visited the Stephen Kanja Primary School in September 2006, where she was introduced to the headmaster at the school and received a tour of the school and it’s facilities. The tour immediately highlighted the lack of the provision of water and the challenging sanitation conditions which existed due to this.
Sally’s Children’s Trust was set up as a result of Sally’s desire to improve the poor sanitation facilities at the school, as well as providing the pupils and the staff with a safe and consistent source of drinking water.
The provision of a system that enables the school to have access to clean water will eliminate a large percentage of the infestation of bilharzias worms, malaria and any other diseases caused by the lack of access to clean water.
The main aim of this project is to provide a consistent safe water supply to the school, to provide access to clean running water, improve sanitation and personal hygiene, and provide water for cooking and cleaning.
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Project background
The Stephen Kanja Primary School is a mixed day school, typically attended by children aged 6 to 15, which is situated in the heart of the community on the upper slopes of the Shimba hills in the Kwale District.
The school is set on the top of a hill in a beautiful protected forest overlooking the rolling Shimba Hills and Sable Valley. The community is made up of the indigenous Digo tribe, who are mainly subsistence farmers and therefore have limited income. The school was set up in 1944 and is attended by c.600 children, many of which have to walk over 10km a day to attend classes.
While the Stephen Kanja Primary School is located in a moderately agriculturally potential area, the communities living around there have been reduced to peasant farmers, partly due to wildlife interference and a lack of adequate agricultural support. As a result, predominant poverty in the area has infiltrated and affected the education sector.
Before the commencement of the water project the school had no access to
clean water. The children had no direct access to drinking water during the day and any water consumed by them would have been water which they had carried in from home. The water which they had access to at home tended not to be from a clean source and contained numerous bacteria and diseases as it would have been collected from standing water.
Local health statistics show a high incidence of pupils carrying bilharzias, with 80% of pupils affected. A safe water supply was of utmost need to the school. The head teacher, the school management and the health office in the Shimba hills have provided insights into the impact of diseases such as Bilharzias on school populations. It is obvious from the absenteeism at the school that is caused by illness from Bilharzias, with 4 in 5 pupils attending Stephen Kanja Primary affected. While bilharzias can be treated in the early stages, it can also prove fatal if treatment is delayed. Many children either cannot afford the treatment or cannot afford the bus fare to the nearest hospital that is often located a long distance away.
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Project Details
The aim of the water project is to design and build the infrastructure required to facilitate the capture of the water and store it so that there is a sufficient source of clean water through the dry season, and to provide access points to the stored water.
Following the decision by Sally’s Children’s Trust to fund the Stephen Kanja water project, the SCT team worked with The Camp Kenya Trust and an independent water expert to prepare a water study to assess the best way to provide a clean water source at the school. Following the studies it was concluded that the most efficient and effective way to provide water would be to take advantage of the substantial rain which the area experiences in the wet season due to its location in a rain forest. Once the studies had been concluded and the best approach to the project had been agreed, project plans, a timetable and the required budgeting were compiled.
The approach adopted in the project plan was to implement a 2 phase approach to the project:
Phase 1
The first phase is to build a large storage tank with access taps for the students, sunk into the school grounds, which will hold 120,000 litres of water. Whist the large storage tank is being built, the asbestos roofs of the two classroom blocks that had been identified as suitable for the development of a water capture system, will be removed and replaced with corrugated iron sheets. Once the roofs have been replaced, the water catchment system will be installed which will direct the clean rainwater into the storage tank. Before commencement of this project the roofs were corroded and full of holes, which meant that they were not suitable to be used for water catchment. The added benefit of the replacement of the roofs is that it provides the children with properly waterproofed classrooms.
Phase 2
The second phase is to replace a further roof on the main classroom block and install further water catchment systems.
Initially there will be a large plinth built behind the classroom block with two new water tanks constructed on it.
After the completion of the Phase 2 water tanks, a further study will be undertaken to review whether the capacity of the water tanks is sufficient to provide the school with water throughout the year. If it is decided that further water storage is required, the plinth built behind the classroom block will have ample space to install 2 further storage tanks.
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Latest Developments
We revisited the Stephen Kanja School in April 2007, and again in June 2008 to review the progress of the project to date and to ensure that the funds had been used appropriately. We were given a tour of the school by The Camp Kenya Trust, the headmaster, and the parent governors to review the work to date.
The project has experienced a number of slight delays over the period of our funding due to the heavy rain falls experienced in the wet seasons, which made the roads impassable for the lorries carrying the materials. However, through the commitment of all parties involved we have successfully completed the first phase of the project on budget, albeit a few months behind schedule.
The construction of the 120,000 litre water tank and the water capture system on the initial classrooms has been completed. The water access point has been built and a tap fitted to the sealed storage unit.
The completed water storage tank
The new roof and water capture system feeding the storage tank
All parties are thrilled with the progress to date and we were able to watch the excited children accessing the water from the storage tank.
A child accessing the fresh clean water from the main storage tank
It is essential to make sure all of our projects are maintained so we can ensure that they will be fully operational for years to come. The school is now responsible for controlling the water use and if any problems occur they are to contact CK who will report back to us.
Since our visit we have introduced a maintenance rota to keep the system working correctly, i.e. clearing gutters and checking for leaks. Alongside this we have requested that CK’s gapers and lifers educate the pupils of the value of the water and how it can be looked after most efficiently.
We are also having a lockable cabinet installed round the tap which only the headmaster and deputy head will have keys for. Each classroom will have a container that a senior student will fill up under supervision everyday so that multiple trips don’t have to made with individual cups.
Feedback from the headmaster and parents were extremely positive and they highlighted that the level of sanitation at the school had improved and that the occurrences of water based diseases was on the decline.
The comments we received from the Headteacher and the Parents were:
“The water is like a drop from heaven”
“We are very happy and excited to be using the water from the tank, it has taken 40 years to get to this point, it is a very big deal for our community!”
“We are very happy to have Sally’s Children’s Trust here and has brought a big smile to us and the children, it is a very special time!”
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What's next
Following our visit and the approval of the first phase of the water project, the second phase is due to commence in [ ]. The first step will be to construct the large concrete plinth behind the classroom block that will be the base for the water storage tanks. Upon completion of the plinth the water storage tanks will be transported and installed on the plinth. This will just leave the replacement of the classroom roofs to enable the installation of the water capture system, this is expected to take place in October 2008.
The classroom block which will have the roof replaced and the water capture system installed
The corroded roof on the classroom block to be replaced with corrugated iron
Phase 2 and the project is expected to be completed in totality in November 2008.
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© Sally's Children's Trust 2008 Reg. Charity No. 1118392 |
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