St. Augustine Indulusia Primary School

The 559 students and 15 St. Augustine Indulusia Primary School staff struggle to access sufficient water. Without adequate water on campus, children are forced to leave school and learning opportunities to travel to a protected spring to collect water. Once there, they must wait in long lines because it is shared with the entire community and then carry it back to school. It's a process that steals a significant portion of their energy each day.

The school has a dug well on campus, though more often than not, it sits dry. When that happens, students must bring water from home, often from unknown sources, putting everyone's health at risk. Even when they bring water from home, it still doesn't meet their needs, so students must travel to the spring.

Field Officer Joel Otuya shared what the water crisis at St. Augustine Indulusia Primary School looks like. "The main water source for Indulusia Primary is a protected spring, which is a bit far from the school. The road leading to this spring is narrow, slippery when wet, and bushy since it passes through maize plantations. It doesn't provide enough water for the school since they also share with community members. Another source of water is a protected hand-dug well with a hand pump, and its handle is very loose; the hand-dug well itself is very seasonal and lacks water most of the time."

Time used to wait in line at the spring or travel there and back is stolen from time used to learn. When students can't prioritize their education, it affects their day-to-day life and their futures in the long run.

To make matters worse, time isn't the only thing stolen. Students are often ill due to contamination, which uses valuable time to recover from and needed resources from their family's already meager budgets.

13-year-old Faith B, seen below, is well acquainted with the constant struggle. "In February this year, I fell ill from flue (feeling ill from contaminated water) and had to miss school for a week. This made me lag behind in my studies. I also lack drinking water because we are very many students, hence making it chaotic to access it. I waste a lot of time at the spring whenever the teachers send me to fetch water. We are many and have to queue for a very long time, therefore wasting a lot of time."

"Last year, when we asked students to bring water from home, one went further and urinated in a water container and brought it to school. The urine then contaminated water brought by other students. Therefore, we had to send them to fetch water at the spring, hence wasting a lot of time. The same year, I was a victim of [a] jigger infestation due to the dirty state of the classrooms since there is very little water for cleaning. The smell from the latrines is unbearable because they are mostly dirty with little or sometimes no water for cleaning and handwashing," shared 29-year-old teacher Mildred Aoko (photo attached).

This school is facing a disheartening challenge. They sacrifice time and health to collect water, that is never enough. Without clean, easily accessible water, their futures are at risk.

Installing the well will enable students like Faith to spend their time learning, hopefully reducing their risk of waterborne illnesses. Teachers like Mildred will be able to give their students a cleaner, healthier learning environment, and hopefully, the time wasted waiting for water will be regained for a brighter future.