Water Blogged

Background
Muhwana Secondary School is located in Magulilwa ward in the Iringa Rural district of Tanzania. The school has 369 students (202 girls|167 boys) and 22 teachers/staff members. There are 16 latrines for students and 2 for the staff. There are 20 female students who are living at the school. They had no access to safe, clean water. Students used to walk 30 minutes to an hour every day to fetch water from Magulilwa village or the Maha River. Time spent fetching water means time away from the classroom, which negatively impacts their performance. Water from the Maha River is shared with animals and used by the community for bathing and washing clothes. It is not safe for drinking and often made the students and staff sick with water-borne diseases.

Project Sustainability
To ensure sustainability of the project, training was conducted at the Muhwana Secondary School. This training aimed to strengthen the school’s and village’s sense of ownership of the project and taught them how to properly use the hand pump and perform routine maintenance/repairs as necessary. The school promises to take good care of the well.

Project Location
The well was drilled near the Muhwana Secondary School within Muhwana village, with GPS location of 7° 57.580’S and 35° 44.506’E

Project Implementation
St. Paul Partners (our implementing partner) representatives traveled to Muhwana Secondary School and worked with the school administration to identify a suitable location for a shallow water well that would have a hand pump. The project included the furnishing of all materials and labor required during drilling. The well was drilled 21 m (70 ft) deep, flushed, tested and meets the standards of St. Paul Partners. A hand pump was successfully installed on the well and is functioning extremely well. Laboratory testing was conducted on the water from the borehole and meets Tanzanian standards for domestic use. It was clear of any contamination and had good mineral levels.

Project Impact
The goal to provide clean, safe water to Muhwana Secondary School was successful! This borehole well will improve the quality of life for students, teachers and neighbors around the school. Having an alternative source of water will end the use of unsafe water from the Maha River. Students will also have more time for their studies by not having to fetch water, improving their school performance and overall health.

Special thanks to the following for supporting this well!
– Children’s Performing Arts of MN
– Global Communications Academy, CT
– Jefferson Junior High School – Naperville, IL
– Silver Trail Middle School, FL
– Varsity Lakes Middle School, FL