Mafudu Primary School (Clean Water)

The Problem

At Mafudu Primary School, 537 students and 13 teachers move a distance of .5-2 kilometers to collect water. In addition, of the two latrines at Mafudu, only one is semi-functional and about to become full- it is not a drainable latrine. At school, girls of menstruating age did not have access to a bathing area. Teachers and parents tried their best to create a temporary structure made of metal scraps to help the girls. The fear is that girls will drop out of school embarrassed when they cannot stay clean and manage their menstruation.

When the students collect water, they miss classes, girls get taken advantage of by men in the forest, and they get sick since the water is not clean. If they are able to go to another water source, a nearby school, they have to wait for long times to collect water and miss class or fail to get water at all.

Because of the lack of water and sanitation, at Mafudu, students cannot learn properly. There is no water for handwashing, drinking, bathing- it is almost impossible to be healthy at Mafudu.

The Solution

After being contacted by Mbale Metropolitan Rotary Club, Drink Local Drink Tap offered to come and meet the community to conduct a proper assessment. In doing so, DLDT always listens to the partner school or community so that there can be true ownership and sustainability of each project. After our assessment, we found that a borehole, ideally with a tapped water system, two new student latrine blocks with provisions for girls to wash, and a set of teachers latrines all with handwashing facilities and water filters for classrooms would provide a holistic approach to making a healthy, more functional school.

DLDT lent the funds and time to conduct a hydrogeological survey and have proper engineers and our planning team on site meeting with the community. We feel that Mafudu Primary School will be a good partner and will rise to the new responsibility of protecting new WASH systems.

The community and DLDT have agreed on the following:

• A borehole
• Borehole water will be solar pumped to two 10,000 liter tanks and gravity-fed to tap stands around the school. Depending on the yield, the community is likely to also benefit.
• Two latrine blocks with a girls provision for washing, disabled and small children and a boys urinal in addition to the normal stalls. These latrine blocks are highly reinforced and drainable, so long-lasting.
• Three handwashing facilities
• Six ceramic water filters for easy use of drinking water in classrooms
• Ongoing WASH training, monitoring and advisory support 5+ years by DLDT
• Re-usable sanitary napkin classes so girls can learn how to make their own sustainable, clean sanitary pads which is better for their health and the environment