Ramula Odowa School
Kajimbo, KENYA
funded JANUARY 19, 2022
Water is a huge concern for this area. This water project will serve two schools and the entire Ramula community. Currently, the school and community members pay vendors who travel with donkeys to deliver water. And they were never sure if it was actually clean water they purchased, but it was better than the river water. It is costly to purchase water. The school purchased donkeys to help collect water from the river, but the river is 3km away. The water source is dirty and you cannot drink or cook with it. The heavy rains stir it up. Three community members recently drowned in the river. Another time, children found a dead body floating in the river when they went to collect water. Dirty water continues to cause waterborne illnesses such as dysentery, typhoid, and parasites. Children are missing school due to illnesses and time it takes to collect water each day. With tummies filled with parasites, it’s difficult to focus at school. Without access to safe water near by economic growth cannot happen. Education cannot be fully achieved.
Ramula Odowa Secondary school is in Nyakach county, Kenya, in the community of Ramula. The water committee includes the school principal, members from the local church and community members.
AFTER THE HAND PUMP ON THE SCHOOL WELL BROKE,
THE STUDENTS HAD TO SOURCE WATER FROM THE
LOCAL RIVER.
Water is the most basic need for any community to obtain health and freedom from the cycle of poverty — time poverty, especially. The time it takes to collect daily water steals time that families could invest in their family, possibly small businesses, or grow their own food. With access to clean water, families could focus on the future, think beyond one day at a time. Students would be healthier to focus at school. Living Water will continue working through the local churches, to train and equip the leaders and congregation in hygiene education and how to care for the water source moving forward. They will use the clean water as a way to build relationships in order to begin to discipleship. Water opens the doors to hearing the gospel.
COMPLETED MARCH 30, 2022
ABOUT THE COMMUNITY
When the hand pump on the well at Ramula Odawa Secondary School broke, the school was plunged into a water crisis. Unable to access water on the school premises, the students had to walk three kilometers to the local river. They often missed their lessons because they were getting water, making it difficult for the teachers to effectively do their jobs. In an attempt to alleviate the situation, the school administration began paying to have water
delivered to the school. However, this was expensive, so the school purchased its own donkeys to carry water from the river. But this was only a partial solution as the river water itself created even more problems. The river was contaminated by dirt and dangerous pathogens. Drinking it made the students sick. Diarrhea, dysentery, and other other waterborne diseases
were common ailments.
RAMULA ODAWA SECONDARY SCHOOL
HAS 400 ENROLLED STUDENTS
The students were caught in a vicious cycle of scarcity and ill health, a pattern that was putting their educations at risk. Time spent collecting water or recovering from waterborne illnesses was time out of the classroom, which made it more likely that the students would drop out of school. The lack of water made it difficult for the school staff to meet the needs of the thirsty students or to even practice proper sanitation.
The school leadership knew they needed a safe, easily-accessible water source. They wanted to be able to keep their students healthy while they were learning. But they also knew that they lacked the resources to effect this change on their own. So they began looking for other sources of help.
THE TEAM DRILLS THE BOREHOLE FOR THE NEW WELL.
CONSTRUCTION
The school staff knew they had found the solution to their water crisis when they heard of Living Water International’s work in the region. The school
requested a water project, and Living Water responded by visiting. They saw that the school desperately needed a safe water source and that a new well would not only benefit Ramula Odawa Secondary School, but also an additional 525 students attending the nearby Ramula Primary
School.
Ingomar Living Waters, you made it possible for Living Water to return to Ramula with a drilling rig. They drilled 68 meters to access a safe water aquifer. The team installed a PVC pipe, gravel pack, and sanitary seal. They shock chlorinated the water and tested it. It proved to be safe for drinking; the team then installed a hand pump and poured a concrete base with a drainage channel to wick away excess water. The new well was complete, and a total of 925 students and surrounding community now had safe water!
COMMUNITY DETAILS
A STUDENT PUMPS SAFE WATER FOR THE FIRST TIME.
| TOTAL WATER USERS: | 925 |
| MAIN WATER COLLECTORS: | students and women |
| LOCATION: | school |
CONSTRUCTION DETAILS
| PUMP TYPE: | hand pump |
| PROJECT TYPE: | new simple water project |
| DEPTH OF WELL: | 68 m |
WATER QUALITY TESTS
| PH: | 6 |
| TOTAL DISSOLVED SOLIDS: | 207 ppm |
| HARDNESS: | 178 ppm |
| COLIFORM BACTERIA: | absent |
SUSTAINABILITY
The Living Water staff helped the Ramula Odawa Secondary School administration establish sustainability practices to help ensure a future of safe water access. As part of this goal, the Living Water team guided the school in the formation of a water committee. The water committee, comprised of the school principal and members of the local church and Ramula community, will oversee the care and maintenance of the well.
Living Water trained the committee to care for the well on a day-to-day basis, set an operating budget, and follow a maintenance schedule. The committee
will collect a small fee per student household for water usage. The school has already set a plan in motion to upgrade the hand pump to a solar-powered
submersible pump. Living Water Kenya staff will stay in contact with the committee to support sustainability efforts and monitor the well’s functionality.
Water was a big issue, especially with two schools with large student populations, not to mention the rest of the community. Infrastructure development wasn’t
possible due to the expense. We had to resort to purchasing water from vendors who used donkeys to ferry it. Water quality was a big issue since the river was the water source. Before we purchased our own donkeys for fetching water, classes had to be interrupted so the pupils could go down to the river, which is three kilometers away. The water was so dirty, the staff couldn’t use it for drinking water or for
cooking for the children. The school will now save a lot of money that was previously used for water. Students will have more time in their classrooms since they won’t have to go looking for water.
SANITATION & HYGIENE
STUDENTS LEARN PROPER HANDWASHING USING A TIPPY TAP.
The Living Water team facilitated a series of sanitation and hygiene training sessions for students and teachers with the aim of reaching other students with important information regarding their health. Living Water showed the
participants proper handwashing technique and how to construct “tippy taps,” a simple water-saving device that can be easily replicated. The
participants also learned about menstrual hygiene, how to maintain good oral hygiene, the prevention and treatment of parasites, and how to transport and store water form the new well safely. The students are excited to share all of their new-found knowledge with their peers.
IN JESUS’ NAME
STUDENTS RAISE THEIR HANDS IN PRAISE OF GOD AT AN
EVANGELISTIC SERVICE.
In addition to providing safe water, your gift was instrumental in sharing Jesus’ love with the Ramula Odawa Secondary School community. The staff was able to share the message the gospel with the school community throughout the safe water project. At the completion of the well, the Living
Water team held an evangelistic service. The Living Water staff shared the gospel with the 420 participants, explaining that Jesus’ words to the
Samaritan woman in John 4:13-14 (NIV) were also for them: “Everyone who drinks this water will be thirsty again, but whoever drinks the water I give
them will never thirst. Indeed, the water I give them will become in them a spring of water welling up to eternal life.” The 420 students who attended
each received a copy of the New Testament to keep.
YOUR IMPACT
Thank you, Ingomar Living Water, for providing safe water for the Ramula Odawa Secondary School community. Because of you, the students no longer have to rely on distant water sources; they now have a safe water source right outside of their school. You’ve also
given them the gift of better health since they no longer have to use contaminated water that will make them sick, putting their health and educations in jeopardy. The students have been encouraged by the opportunity to be good stewards of their new well, empowering them to be agents of change in their communities.
Furthermore, you’ve been instrumental in giving the Ramula Odawa Secondary School students a hope and a future in Christ by sharing his living water. Thank you for giving water, for life, in Jesus’ name!
THANK YOU FOR BLESSING THIS SCHOOL WITH SAFE WATER!
All projects are made possible by World Changers.