Celebration at Muslim Primary School: Completion of Girls Latrines and Water Tank
On Wednesday, October 6, 2010 Project Coordinator Julie Smith and two other representatives of Lifewater International gathered together with Lifewater Kenya staff, teachers from several local primary schools, school district administrators, and over 1,000 students at Muslim Primary School. The celebration marked the completion of several stages in the Water and Sanitation for Nakuru Schools Project at Muslim Primary School.
These achievements include:
- water: completion of the 10,000 gallon water tank which allows the school to have a regular supply of water
- sanitation: completion of the 16-door latrine for girls to replace the former latrines which were in dangerously poor condition. A block for hand washing with 5 faucets was also constructed and connected with the water tank so that water will always be readily available for hand washing.
- hygiene: completion of a week-long training course with 21 participants including teachers from 8 schools. This hygiene curriculum will be taught to the health clubs at each of these schools and will improve healthy behavior in relation to water, sanitation, and hygiene both at home and at school.
The celebration was a joyous occasion which demonstrated the significance of these new facilities. Through songs, dances, poems, and speeches the school expressed the impact that the water tank, latrines, hand washing blocks, and training will have on the students' ability to stay in school and remain healthy. "Education is as important as clothes and food and even shelter," the first grade students chanted. "We should be married now, according to tradition. But we have chosen to stay in school," the older girls sang. And now Muslim Primary School students can focus on their education and their futures while learning and practicing life-saving WASH principles.
“We sincerely give our appreciation to those who raised funds to put up the facilities and those who planned and toiled under all weather conditions to put up the facilities. The value of the facilities is beyond our imagination. God bless you.
“The facilities will assist the girls and the entire school community. It will assist the girls to attend school, access their privacy, gain self esteem, save a lot of time for their studies, and this will improve their academic performance and nation building. The facilities will also facilitate good hygiene practice, access to clean drinking water, and this will improve the health status, academic performance, enrollment to school of our pupils and our community.”
-Grace Kiprotich, Head teacher
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