Rotary Club of Nakuru-East Polkot Project

Conducted by:

Rotarian Chris Gasperi

Rotarian James Yeagon

Rotarian Joab Okello

 

 

 

 

 

According to the CDC, waterbourne diseases are the leading cause of death in Kenya. Lack of access to water and an improved sanitation source are the greatest contributors to the spread of waterbourne diseases. Out of the 5 schools assessed for WASH infrastructure and hygiene practices none of them had an adequate water supply and reported having to close school at times due to the lack of water. There were also poor hygiene and sanitation practices observed due to a lack of proper ratios of latrines:pupil, lack of handwashing stations, and lack of structured hygiene messages being promoted in the school. High incidence of diseases were reported at all schools including: malaria, tuberculosis, scabies, dysentery, intestinal parasites, cholera, and typhoid.

Imagine fighting against all odds to attend school and prioritize education in a community where many parents do not value education, where girls are subjected to female genital mutiliation, and early childhood marriage, where boys are praised if they stay home to heard livestock instead of learning. A community changes from within and starts with advocates that are empowered through education. It is crucial to join hands with partners from all backgrounds, private, public, NGOs, community members and together, break down every barrier related to education. Education cannot progress uninterrupted providing the building block of life – water. Rotary Club of Nakuru was requested to come and assess these 5 schools by So They Can, an Australian NGO that is providing educational support to the same 5 schools and has built a relationship with the schools. It was requested that Rotary Club of Nakuru pursue a Global Grant for the WASH needs in the schools based upon their needs assessment.

 

East Pokot is situated in the northwest part of Kenya and is approximately 420 KM from Nairobi. The area is predominantly inhabited by the Pokot community who depend mainly on livestock rearing for economic livelihood. The 4,524.8Km2 Sub-County is administratively divided into 6 Divisions namely; Churo, Tangulbei, Mondi, Nginyang, Ngoron and Kolowa. It has a total of 20 Locations and 52 Sub locations. Also known as Tiaty Constituency, it covers 43% of the entire Baringo County landmass. The predominant people inhabiting the Sub-County are the Pokot who are pastoralists and form a total population of about 160,958 (Women 51% and Men 49%). The population settlement pattern is scattered, away from main roads or trading centers, a condition fostered by a history of seasonal migration in search of scarce resources like water and pasture as well as mistrust of the law enforcement agencies.

East Pokot Sub-County has an altitude of 2352m above sea level at the highest point and 762m above sea level on the lowest point. The temperature ranges between 150C - 350C. Less than 25%, or 905 Km2 is arable land and the rest is arid land. The terrain of the district is generally rocky and shrubby. The average annual rainfall (calculated from the past 8 years of measured rainfall) is 588mm, which is far below the threshold to be considered a water scarce region. According to the Kenya National Bureau of Statistics, less than 20% of the population in East Pokot have access to a reliable water source.

 

 

 

1.      Assessment of WASH services and infrastructure in 5 schools

2.      Evaluation of current hygiene practices in schools

3.      Assess feasibility of an enabling environment to carry out projects

                                                                                                                      

 

A combination of quantitative and qualitative methods was used to collect data over the course of a two-day field visit (Sept. 19-20, 2018) by Rotary Club of Nakuru service project committee members.

·         Observation checklist of school WASH infrastructure and

·         Secondary data analysis

·         Key information interviews

·          Focus group discussions

·         KAP (Knowledge, Attitude and Practices) surveys

 

 

 

 

 

1.      Water scarcity exhibited at all schools leading to school closures at times. All schools are also using at least one unprotected water source (river, dam) that is also likely contributing to disease rates. No schools demonstrated water purification methods.

2.      Poor pupil:latrine ratios leading to overcrowding and poor sanitary conditions which is likely a source of disease at the schools. Per the Kenyan minimum standards for WASH in schools guidelines ratios should be 1:25 girls and 1:30 boys if a urinal is present. One school demonstrated a ratio of 1:405 girls and 1:367 boys!

3.      Lack of structured hygiene message promotion in the curriculum. It was noted that ad hoc messages were being brought to the school by a health officer once a term to once a year depending on the school.

4.      Handwashing stations were lacking at all of the schools and there was no soap observed at any school.

 

1.      The KAP surveys of a random child at each school revealed there was some knowledge on handwashing practices and ways to purify water. The knowledge alone did not transform into behavior modification due to the lack of resources at the schools (i.e. no handwashing stations, soap, or adequate latrines, lack of structured MHM plan in place).

2.      Observation of the latrines revealed that they were soiled with faeces in the open, lack of privacy due to poorly functioning door latches, and a stench due to poor ventilation.

3.      MHM (menstrual hygiene management) was lacking and soiled sanitary towels were reportedly discarded in the latrines. One school reported that they were supplied with sanitary towels at the time of assessment by a well-wisher. Through the focus group discussions and the key informant interviews it was reported that some girls do not come to school during their menstruation.  

 

1.      All the schools had an engaged headmaster and staff that were verbally committed to carrying out projects.

2.      The schools demonstrated past projects that were successful with the CDF (community development fund), County Government, and NGO’s (So They Can, World Food Program). Examples of projects were: feeding programs, construction of classrooms, textbook and classroom supplies, BOM training, teacher trainings, school field trips, and educational scholarships.

3.      The schools in conjunction with the parents/community planned and carried out various projects to empower their schools on their own: fencing of the property for safety, flower planting exercise, solar panel purchasing for electrification of classrooms, and food relief during times of severe drought.

4.      Parents contributed to past projects through manual labor.

5.      All of the schools had committed BOM’s (Board of Management) that contributed to the policy and management of the schools. One school did not have the BOM present during assessment because they had met the day prior with So They Can, and were not able to avail themselves two days in a row.

6.      Safety was assured during projects and times of unrest were generally related to castle rustling and did not involve outsiders.  

7.      Terrain was rough but roads existed to the schools that enabled past supplies delivery for construction related materials.

8.      Some schools are far from main roads and there is not general accommodation near the project sites. Construction team would have to build temporary housing from corrugated iron sheets during project cycle.

1.      Calculate gap in water requirements for each school and construct RWH (rainwater harvesting systems) with masonary tanks to meet the demand. Considering the unreliable water table in times of drought it is unwise to provide another borehole (current boreholes in the area are non-functional for 4-6 months per year during drought).

2.      Provide school grade water filters with multiple taps to allow for potable drinking water collected from unprotected sources.

3.      Construct adequate number of latrines based on latrine:pupil ratio with room for student growth. Consult school/community prior to selecting latrine design so it is in line with their cultural customs.

4.      Construct permanent handwashing stations based on number of pupils in the schools.

5.      Build capacity of school management committee (SMC) or start one at each school if there isn’t an existing one to train on preventative maintenance and operations of the resources placed at the school.

6.      Train all teachers on CHAST (Children’s Hygiene and Sanitation Training) Curriculum and provide master copies for each classroom to incorporate into curriculum time table at schools for a sustainable way of promoting hygiene messages in the school.

7.      Form or revive school health clubs to engage pupils as change advocates (CHAST curriculum culminates into the forming of a school health club), can incorporate soap making into the activities of the health club.

8.      Engage with local ministries of health and education to ensure continuous monitoring and evaluation along with data reporting to the national government level is occurring.

Based on the needs assessment of 5 schools in East Pokot there is an obvious and urgent need of WASH programs in the schools. There appears to be an enabling environment for a successful project and high engagement with multiple key stakeholders during the needs assessment. There was a wide range of data collection tools used to ensure accurate representation of needs is being reported. It is recommended that Rotary Club of Nakuru pursue a Global Grant to address the urgent need and select a cooperating organization that is experienced in WASH in schools, has the ability to execute projects in a timely fashion, and has reasonable costs.