100 Rural Schools Gain Access To Safe Water And Sanitary Facilities

Posted by Letswalo L Marobane on 19 May 2021, 10:55 SAST

In 2018, 30,000 pupils, 600 teachers, and their families at 100 rural schools in 4 provinces and 6 districts gained access to safe water supply and appropriate sanitary facilities. Also in 2018, 200 teachers were trained in child-friendly teaching methodologies.

These activities were carried out under the auspices of the WASH, Disaster Risk Reduction and Resilience Programme funded by Germany with a focus on supporting the drilling boreholes and rehabilitating existing ones. The 4 provinces and 6 Districts included Manicaland with 12 schools in Chipinge: Matebeleland North with 19 schools in Binga, Masvingo with 9 schools in Chiredzi and 19 schools in Mwenzi and Midlands with 29 schools in Gokwe North and 15 in Gokwe South.

The programme is focused on increasing school attendance, hygiene, and privacy, and reduces incidences of diarrhoeal diseases. The interventions seek to increase access to safe water and improved sanitation by pupils and communities in the catchment areas. The outcome envisaged is improved quality of learning environment; health, hygiene & wellness (including menstrual health) and also including home grown School Feeding enabling schools and their communities to prepare for and manage disaster risks.

Key areas of the programme include access to potable water for schools without reliable water and non-functional boreholes; access to good sanitation through the construction of BVIP latrine blocks to meet adequate standards; access to hygiene enabling facilities especially hand washing facilities; positive hygiene behavior through the establishment of school health clubs to provide peer to peer learning and also the training of teachers and building resilience to disasters through training on Disaster Risk Management (DRM), disaster-resilient farming/gardening and water harvesting and management.