Bring Clean Water to School Children in Africa
by Blood:Water Kenya Water
443 million school days are lost yearly due to waterborne diseases. By providing access to safe water near the schools, families don't have to choo...
443 million school days are lost yearly due to waterborne diseases. By providing access to safe water near the schools, families don't have to choose between sending their children to walk for water or sending them to school. Water+Education=Success
As we've sent our children back to school with new outfits, supplies and backpacks, there is one item we don't have to worry about.
Water.
American children have the blessing of attending schools that provide water fountains, faucets and flushing toilets. But in Africa, many children cannot go to school because they instead must walk to find water. Sometimes the nearest water source is a river several miles away from their homes.
Most students in Kuna Primary School were forced to miss classes because of their families’ need for clean water. You see, in rural Kenya and other parts of Africa, water is not easy to come by. Families gather their water from contaminated sources like rivers and ponds, and they often have to walk miles to get there. If the family must choose between sending their children to gather water or to attend school, they often have to choose the former.
But here’s the good news. Imagine if the water source were provided at the child’s school? Students could attend classes (which is crucial for their own futures), drink clean water during the school day, and return home from school with water for their families.
Here is Kuna Primary School today, after Blood:Water Mission’s partnership for two 5,000 liter rain water catchment tanks. The results are remarkable: Jeremiah Omollo, a teacher at Kuna Primary School, reports that he is seeing children learning “to live healthy lives by drinking clean and safe water, using clean latrines, and washing hands after visiting latrines.” Additionally, student attendance has increased, health records indicate improvement of water-related diseases, agricultural projects have begun on-site, and test scores have been at an all time high (we are proud to report that Kuna’s standardized tests scored the highest in the district!).
We are thrilled to invite you into our campaign to ensure that more schools like Kuna can have improved water sources and latrines. We are committed to ensuring that 3,000 more students across Africa can get back to school, by way of clean water provision. As we count our blessings for the ways our children here have the basic needs of water provided, let’s extend our love and compassion to help children in Africa say yes to health and education!