This project will pursue Rotary One Star rating under the Rotary WASH in schools target challenge program. It has been designed with activities and monitoring to achieve that goal.
This project is located in Migori County, Kenya. The objective of this grant is to provide a permanent source of clean water, permanent latrines, WASH training and menstrual hygiene trainining to seven primary schools in the vicinity of Migori town. All of these schools currently have no source of clean water. They get their water from a polluted creek, often at considerable distance.
There are several parts to this project each school.
• a stable supply of clean water
• enough and suitable toilets
• reuseable sanitary pads for the girls along with menstrual management education,
• Water and Sanitation education for the teachers and students.
CLEAN WATER
This part of Kenya gets plenty of rain twice a year and the groundwater is often very deep. The most economical solutions to the water issue at the schools is either to collect rainwater from the iron roofs of the schools and store it in above ground tanks or to drill a shallow well where the groundwater is accessible. Schools will receive either, two 10,000 liter tanks or a 30 meter deep well with a hand pump. The rainwater is pure and clean. The groundwater is usually good and more plentiful. Where we drill a well, there is an opportunity for the school to raise funds by providing water to people in the area at a price.
TOILETS
For the last three projects, we have provided a two door, handicapped accessible pit latrine at each school. For this grant we plan on improving on that. With the help of the Gates foundation, the Global Sustainable Aid Project (GSAP) haa developed a micro flush toilet. This toilet uses the small amount of water from handwashing to flush the toilet and vermiculture (worms) to produce composted manure for the garden. This technology has been introduced to Kenya but not in this part of the country. We will engage the Kenya director of GSAP to train local tradesmen in how to construct and sell Micro flush toilets. They will then be contracted to build them for our schools and be able to have a small business building microflush toilets for residential and institutional use in the area.
These toilets have a built in handwash station as part of the construction. This encourages good hygiene. They are also handicapped accessible which removes the stigma of having a "special" toilet for students or teachers with mobility issues.
MENSTRUAL HYGIENE MANAGEMENT INSTRUCTION
The high dropout rate for girls as they move from primary to secondary school is a big issue in Kenya. One of the key ways to reduce this dropout rate is through education for menstrual hygiene management and distribution of sanitary pads.
We will be partnering with Beyond Water, a Kenya based NGO through their The Girl Project, to provide Menstrual and hygiene training at each school. The trainers are young local women who understand the local customs and conditions. They will train the teachers to teach the students and train all of the students with a half-day fun workshop. In partnership with the Tumia Tena Coop, they will distribute reusable sanitary pads and underwear to the girls who require them. The Tumia Tena Coop is a local group of women who, with a Rotary grant, have established a small business making the pads.
WATER & SANITATION EDUCATION
We will be partnering with Beyond Water, a Kenya based NGO through their The Girl Project. They will train the teachers to teach the students and all of the students with a half-day fun workshop. This will be for boys and girls. This will be combined with the menstrual hygiene training for the older girls.
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