Water Blogged

Madege Secondary School is located in Idete Lukosi village within the Kilolo district of the Iringa region. The school has 668 students from form one through form four and 20 staff members. The school faced a big challenge of finding safe and clean water on a daily basis. Students used polluted water from unsafe sources, mainly the river Lukosi. Students fetched buckets of water daily on their way to school for drinking, general cleanliness, watering flowers and cooking. This makes life difficult as students and teachers waste a lot of time fetching water causing them to miss important class time. The polluted water they had been using from the river was causing many cases of water borne disease. The students also used the river to bath and wash their clothes which put them in danger.

Project Goal
The goal was to provide clean, safe water to Madege Secondary School to 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 river Lukosi. Students will also have more time for their studies by not having to fetch water from the river, improving their performance and overall health. The primary beneficiaries of this project are the 668 students from the school, 20 staff members and surrounding villagers.

Drilled Well
Representatives from St. Paul Partners, our implementing partners, traveled to Madege and worked with the school administration to identify a suitable location for a shallow well that would have a hand pump. The project included the furnishing of all materials, labor and supervision required during drilling. The well was drilled, flushed, and tested to the standards of St. Paul Partners. A hand pump was successfully installed on the well and is functioning extremely well. Laboratory testing was conducted and the water met Tanzanian standards for domestic use and was clear of any contamination.

To ensure sustainability of the project, WASH (WAter, Sanitation and Hygiene education) training was conducted. The students and staff were taught about the importance of good sanitation and hygiene practices and they were also trained on how to use and maintain the hand pump properly and repair any issues that may arise.

Madege Secondary School is committed to keeping their new, clean source of water in good condition. This well will greatly improve the lives of everyone at the school and the entire community!