Good news from our WASH program
Village HopeCore International achieves another milestone: Every primary and secondary school pupil in the Sub-County has access to hand-washing soap
By the end of 2014, Village HopeCore International had placed clean water systems in every registered school in the Maara Sub-County. The supply of handwashing stations and clean drinking water tanks reached 181 schools, across 516 villages, reaching a total of approximately 45,000 schoolchildren. After a year of monitoring, HopeCore recognized an issue with the supply of soap. Many teachers reported not having the necessary resources to procure soap.
Village HopeCore International, in partnership with the Ministry of Health and the Ministry of Education, worked tirelessly over approximately 12 months to formulate a solution to this challenge. In January 2016, the first meeting of the Maara Sub-County Hygiene and Sanitation Committee was held. This committee is comprised of the Sub-County Education Officer, the Sub-County Public Health Officer, Village HopeCore International, the Sub-County head of the Kenya Primary School Head Teachers Association, and the Sub-County head of the Kenya Secondary School Head Teachers Association.
After working with this committee of stakeholders to address this serious issue, HopeCore was able to create an action plan approved by the County for the first term of the year. Each pupil is required to pay 10 Kenyan shillings (10 cents USD). This fee is intended to cover the costs of the soap and delivery to every school in the Maara Sub-County, creating a reliable and effective manner for providing and financing the continual provision of soap in all schools. The funds are collected and deposited into a joint bank account between the various stakeholders.HopeCore is proud to say that within the first month of the first term, every school, approximately 200 in total, had 20 liters of handwashing soap available for their students. Then, again, as the schools entered their second term, HopeCore resupplied the schools that had run out of soap. Now that every school has soap, we can continue to provide additional soap as the schools run out. The HopeCore WASH monitor will carry the soap, as tanks are monitored to top up those schools that have higher populations and therefore will go through the soap at a faster rate.
The establishment of the committee, the follow-through on setting up the bank account, and the collection of funds are major steps in the success of this program. Furthermore, both the Public Health Officer and Education Officer have stated they have never heard of a public-private partnership like this anywhere else in Kenya. It was through this partnership that we were able to provide handwashing soap for all students in the Maara Sub-County.
Moving beyond the success of providing soap to school children, this is an incredible success and demonstration of HopeCore’s influence in the community. We moved beyond only providing services to making an actual change in the Government’s approach to health and prevention. This partnership and action demonstrate the shift in mindset toward valuing clean drinking water and hand washing in the schools.