Location
Mawingu Village, Mawingu Division, Olkalou District, Central Province, Kenya
Community Description
Mawingu Division consists of 14,418 people. There are 5 separate villages that make up the division, and there are 10 primary schools.
Mawingu relies solely on farming, and families work the farms from sunrise to sunset making only 40 KSH a day (about 50 cents in USD). Most families have between 5 and 10 children.
Twins Primary school is located in the heart of Mawingu Village. From the violent elections of 2007/2008, there was a huge influx of students at the primary level because hundreds of people flocked to Central Province and located in Mawingu Village.
Many of the students attending Twins are children of the IDPs (internally displaced people) and from their camp, they have to walk up to 10 kilometers to school each morning.
Twins Primary School has a total number of 589 students, 5 teachers, and 1 headmaster. Primary School is from Standard 1 to Standard 8.
There are approximately 208 girls and 381 boys attending the school. There are roughly 70 children per classroom, but because of the lack of teachers, some classes are doubled so there can be over 100 students in one classroom.
Clean water for use by the school is not presently accessible. There are two dams located in the Mawingu Division, but both are dirty and shared with animals. This creates a high incidence of typhoid, and students are often sick or extremely dehydrated during classes.
Project Description
This project is to build a rainwater catchment system at the school.
The system will consist of a 500 to 1,000-liter water tank, a tank platform, a gutter system, and related piping.
The water tank, including a tap and lid, along with the other materials, will be purchased and transported from a hardware store located in a town called Olkalou, which is about 20 kilometers away.
Water Charity funds will be used to purchase the tank and materials, including 20 lengths of guttering, 5 to 7 bags of cement, and the necessary piping.
School parents will provide the labor to build the concrete slab for the tank and install the gutters and piping. It is anticipated that the project will take 2 weeks to complete.
Upon completion, there will be a haramba (celebration) where the chief and all the village elders attend.
Project Impact
600 people will benefit from the project.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Shailah Bevan
Comments
The catchment system will have a profound effect on the health and well-being of the students by providing them with a reliable source of safe water.
Shailah previously completed the Karugutu Primary School Rainwater Catchment Project – Kenya and the Mundi and Gatarawa Primary Schools Latrine Project – Kenya.
Dollar Amount of Project
$555.00
Donations Collected to Date
$555.00
Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has now been fully funded, through the generosity of CannedWater4Kids.
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Peace Corps Volunteer Shailah Bevan of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by Shailah and/or those other PCVs in the country of service.
This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.