Water Blogged

Masalali Primary School is a government school located in Ukumbi sub-village within the Kilolo district of the Iringa region, Tanzania. The school has 473 students ranging from nursery school to standard seven. The school faced the challenge of getting safe and clean water for daily consumption. Students used polluted water from unsafe sources, including hand-dug wells and creeks, which are shared with animals. Every day students had to bring buckets of water for the school’s domestic use and walk 2 kilometers away to fetch more water later in the day. This made life difficult for the students and teachers, as students spent a lot of time fetching water, consequently causing them to miss important lessons and valuable studies. This was also a health concern, as the water from these sources is unsafe, so the students and teachers were at a big risk of waterborne diseases.

The overall objective of this project was to provide access to clean water for the students at Masalali School. Our implementing partner, St. Paul Partners (SSP), successfully installed a borehole well on the school grounds! This will ensure students have access to enough safe water, which will lead to more time in the classroom studying. Plentiful, safe water will also have a significant impact on the health of the students, teachers and neighbors around the village.

SSP representatives worked with the school administration to identify a suitable location for a borehole well that would have a hand pump. This 30M deep well was drilled, flushed, and tested to the standards of St. Paul Partners. The project included the furnishing of all materials, labor and supervision required during drilling. To ensure the project’s sustainability, WASH training was conducted at the Masalali School. Students and staff were trained on how to use the hand pump and to ensure its sustainability. This training aimed to strengthen the school’s and village’s sense of ownership towards the project. The school leaders promise to take good care of the well for many years.

Thanks to the following for supporting this project!