This SWASH+ photo essay describes creative ways to fund and supply school WASH in rural Kenya.

2. Charles Oyugi, the head teacher at Tonde
Primary School, is committed to safe water,
and high standards for hygiene and
sanitation and is improvising solutions. He
made water stoppers out of nails when the
school could not afford taps.
While national standards for school water,
sanitation and hygiene (WASH) have been
set forth in 2008 by the Ministry of
Education, financial support for school
WASH is inconsistent across the country.
Funding for recurrent costs of WASH
systems, such as fixing broken taps and
maintenance of latrines, has not been
incorporated into funding for schools.
School do not have a consistent funding
source with specific budget lines, therefore,
WASH systems must compete for funding
with electricity and repair of classroom
structures.

3. Some schools allow community members to use their
borehole for a small fee as a community service. In
Wagai Primary School, the fees for water usually go
toward maintaining the borehole.

5. John Otieno fills out the checklist for his
review of the facilities
The health representative monitoring
system helps to keep schools accountable
for improvements, however, without
increased financial commitment to
school WASH from the government,
conditions worsen and the financial
burden falls on parents.

6. Pamela Akinyi, 42, mother of Willis, 8, and Winnie,
10, harvests sweet potatoes planted on her land in
Kasboga Village, Kenya where her children attend
Wagai primary school
Pamela sells extra sweet
potatoes in order to
personally contribute to the
schools’ water and sanitation
supplies. Her sacrifice helps
to provide where the school
budget falls short. Parents
often personally sacrifice
funds and supplies when the
school cannot pay for
needed maintenance.

7. "Sometimes the (sanitary) supplies run out and parents are called to contribute,”
says Pamela. “They buy soap, bleach, even WaterGuard. Since SWASH started
children come and tell the parents what they learned in school and they listen and
do the same things at home. Children want water to be treated and they wash
hands after toileting"
– Pamela Akinyi

8. Schools get resourceful by
planting and working a
garden to supplement funds
and earn money for various
unmet needs. Vegetables
from the garden help provide
school lunches and extra
income. Funds from the
school garden may go
towards capital projects, new
classrooms or roofs, or
sanitation and hygiene.

9. Farming helps schools supplement income for WASH expenses. At God Aburo
Primary School’s sugar cane plot (pictured here), the School Management
Committee (SMC) is responsible for cultivating and managing the plot, and
decides how to use the funds. Last harvest yielded 170,000 Ksh (1977.90 USD)
and they generally harvest every 14-16 months.
In the past the SMC has used the funds to buy WASH supplies, school
improvements, repair and maintenance, and motivational items for students
and teachers (plastic chairs, cups, meals with SMC and teachers, etc.).

10. Emanuel Juma (white coat), chair of the School Management
Committee at Wagai Primary School plows his fields with help of hired
farm hands. Juma personally contributes to school WASH supplies,
buying soap or other supplies when the school runs out.
“*The children+ used to be sickly, I think from poor
water,” says Juma. “Now you don't find sick
children sitting in the sun sleeping with fever. We
need a combined effort from the Ministry of
Health and the community so that if the NGOs
leave there is a continuation of the program. "

11. Schools are able to save money and
provide students with soap by mixing
powdered soap with water in bottles.
The ‘soapy water’ was an innovation
created as a result of research on soap
provision at Kenyan schools.

12. Another innovation is placing soap on a
rope near handwashing stations. This
prevents soap theft and loss of soap.

13. Schools have created shades over water
vessels to keep water at a cooler temperature
for drinking.

14. Students contribute to their school’s
resourcefulness by bringing water from
local water sources (river or borehole) for
the community of students to share
throughout the day.

15. Students improvise in order to clean water containers. Instead of
using purchased materials such as, a sponge, pad, or brush, students
use plastic material from a grain sack to clean water containers.

16. Students also help
maintain WASH
standards by cleaning
latrines. When long
handled commercial
brooms cannot be
funded, students make
short handled brooms
with reeds or tree
branches.

17. Sustained school water, sanitation and hygiene takes a group effort and
resourcefulness.
Everyone – from parents, to pupils, to school administrators, to
government – needs to be committed to ensure that schools have safe
water, clean latrines, and good hygiene behaviours over the long term.
A consistent school budget with ample funding and appropriate allocation
of funds for school WASH is needed to ensure WASH standards are being
met at schools across Kenya.

18. References
Photography by CARE/Brendan Bannon/Kelly Alexander.
Photo essay by Julie Straw; edited by Malaika Cheney-Coker.
SWASH+ is a five-year applied research project to identify,
develop, and test innovative approaches to school-based
water, sanitation and hygiene in Nyanza Province,
Kenya. The partners that form the SWASH+ consortium are
CARE, Emory University, the Great Lakes University of
Kisumu, the government of Kenya, and the former Kenya
Water for Health Organisation (KWAHO), and Water.org.
SWASH+ is funded by the Bill & Melinda Gates Foundation
and the Global Water Challenge. For more information, visit
www.swashplus.org.