A Year Later: Kimingini Primary School

A year ago, generous donors helped build a rainwater catchment system, latrines, and hand washing stations for Kimingini Primary School in Kenya. Because of these gifts and our monthly donors, our partners are able to visit project sites throughout the year, strengthening relationships with communities and evaluating the actual water project. Because of these consistent visits, we learn vital lessons and we hear amazing stories - we're excited to share this one with you.

“The school compound was neatly kept with no sign of garbage on the grounds," said field officer Allan Amadaro as he visited the school. "Newly fitted dustbins have been installed at strategic places making it convenient for garbage collection.”

Felix Mulama, the School Student President, attributed these changes to the vibrant Hygiene club formed during the implementation of the WaSH (water, sanitation, and hygiene) projects.

“We also noticed full classrooms with some students having to share desks,” said Allan. “Mr. Ngaira, Head Teacher, accredited this to fewer cases of absenteeism and increase in the number of students enrolling because of the WASH facilities at the school. The school’s records show an increase in the population of pupils from 668 when the project was installed in 2016 to 713 in May 2017. Most of the newly enrolled pupils were girls from neighboring schools who wanted a convenient environment for learning, the presence of adequate, clean water and sufficient sanitation platforms which Kimingini Primary School now has.”

Ronald Makamu, Senior Teacher, spoke with Allan about the changes he sees at Kimingini Primary School. “When there was no water in the school, pupils would carry small containers to go fetch water from a river far away from the school, missing class time. The water tank has helped get water around the school; pupils now have ample time to study and are enjoying being in school.”

“The pupils are no longer subjected to dangers such as harassment by community members when they would go to fetch water”, says Ronald. “This has given confidence to the pupils, mostly girls, who in the past were often sent for water. They now can compete equally with the boys and some are performing better than the boys.”

Teachers have also benefited from having water in the school. In the event of practical lessons for senior pupils, teachers can easily access water from the tank for this purpose. The school now has a vibrant C.T.C (child to child) club where pupils involved have invested in agriculture on a small piece of land issued by the school. The water at the tank has come in handy as it’s used for irrigation of the crops at the farm. As a result, the school now has a feeding program for class 8 and teachers where the administration purchases the farm produce from the club at a subsidized rate.

A year later, Kimingini Primary School is managing their project very well. As we continue to monitor their progress, we’re excited to hear and share more stories from this primary school and their successful students. “We are not going to the river wasting a lot of time, our school is now very clean, cases of absenteeism are minimal and we are enjoying being in school,” Felix Mulama said.

“With fewer absenteeism cases, fewer ailment issues and more enrollment of pupils, our teachers are now more psyched to come to school to teach and students now have enough time to be in class to learn and compete fairly. We believe by the end of this year our school will be a beacon of light in our community,” said Head Teacher Mr. Ngaira.

The Water Project and our partners are committed to consistent monitoring of each water source. Our monitoring and evaluation program, made possible by monthly donors, allows us to visit communities up to 4 times a year. Read more about our program and how you can help.