The Gamachu School is located in the rolling hills of West Arsi Ethiopia. Most children help their parents take care of cows, sheep, goats, chickens, and horses. School students walk to school–there are no cars in this part of the country. The kids are eager to go to school and their parents like sending their kids to school. It’s not like that in every community nearby, but at Gamachu School, student enrollment is increasing.
At home, girls often have to walk long distances to collect water for their family members to use. Most of the time, the water is not clean and it can make people sick. Staff report that the common illnesses among students at Gamachu School are flu and stomach pain. Also, there are not enough toilets to take care of all the kids at school nowadays. If fact, there are only four toilets for girls and four toilets for boys, so the students have to line up in long lines between classes to use the toilet or they go in the bushes near the school. We know that is not a healthy practice, but they have no choice!
At Gamachu Primary School, we will complete a full WASH program for all of the children, which we break into 8 projects, 1 project per class level. In total, the program will include improvement to the natural spring that exists next to the school for drinking water, construction of two 8-door latrines for boys and girls at the school (including disability accessible stances for both boys and girls, and a changing room for girls when they are menstruating), handwashing stations near latrines to encourage handwashing, a school WASH Club to teach children about WASH practices, and training teachers in our WASH in Schools curriculum.
This school is divided into 8 projects, one for each grade level of the school. The cost per class is dependent on the class size, as more students means greater latrine and water needs. Each project includes the cost for water, sanitation, and hygiene – both the hardware and the training costs – for the specific class level.
H2O for Life partners with experienced NGO organizations around the world that build and support clean water, sanitation, and hygiene education projects in schools. These NGO partners cover half the total cost of every project funded through H2O for Life.
When students raise money for a project, 90% of the funds go directly to the project, and 10% supports the work that makes the project possible. This includes choosing trusted partners, managing funds responsibly, checking on projects, and reporting back so students can see the impact of their work.
This helps ensure every project is done well, stays sustainable, and truly changes lives.
In rare situations, we reserve the right to reallocate funds to alternate project(s).
Questions? Ask us at 651-756-7577 or info@h2oforlifeschools.org.
