Mai Gbitsi School - water means more children!

Posted by Sadie

Germay Halefom is the headmaster at Mai Gbitsi school. We visited in April 2008 and he has been working here for two months - since the water point was installed.

The school has 7 teachers and 289 pupils in grades 1- 4. When the children leave grade 4, they go on to the grade 5 at Hiwane elementary school. There are around 50 pupils in each class (ages 7-10), and the school has had a water point for two months (completed in Feb 08). There are no toilets yet, but the excavation of latrines has started.

Before the water point was installed, only 150 children came to school. Germay told us that “because of the problems with the water the children would not come to school. Only half the amount used to come.”
This was because they were fetching water for their homes, but also because when they did come, they needed to fetch water to be used at school. This took too long and made coming to school not worth it. The children in this area (usually the girls) used to walk 45 minutes each way to the river to collect water. “Before they were late to school, now all the students are coming on time. It was very difficult for them to get water and difficult for them to come here after.”

Now he has hopes for their futures: “our students should be interested to teach, education is very important to our country.”

The school has a Sanitation Club. All the children participate in activities and there are between 7 and 20 club members, chosen from each class. They use plays and songs to communicate hygiene messages, but also run debates. Debating has a strong cultural tradition in this area. The school has had the Sanitation Club for 2 years, and has been teaching hygiene messages for three. They have been building up their activities slowly.
We asked Germay how he felt about having a water point at the school. The increase in school attendance spoke volumes for the success of the scheme, and his thoughts on it were simple: “It is very good. Water is your basic need as a human being.”