By Bob and Tricia | Program Officer
In January 2022 we had the pleasure of hosting Bob and Tricia Hayne, friends of our Consultant Steve Ashton. They have been faithful supporters of WE REACH since its inception and came Kakamega to see its work on the ground, meet Erick and Edwin and to visit some of the schools. Tricia summarizes their visit in her note below in which she states:
“But the resourcefulness of these schools in combination with the experience introduced by WE REACH is producing results that surpass anything we had anticipated.”
“Have you washed your hands?”
It’s a question that rolls off the tongue of most parents and teachers before meals – with never a thought for the implications. Yet what happens when there is no water? No soap? No understanding of the importance of washing hands in the first place?
Water, Sanitation, Hygiene: these are the words that underpin the global WASH programme that is being rolled out by WE REACH in Kakamega, western Kenya. To understand how it works on the ground, we visited five schools in January 2022 with founders of the charity, Erick Bosire and Steve Ashton.
Even with our high expectations, nothing had prepared us for the overwhelming sense of achievement that we met. Headteachers told us that since partnering with WE REACH, children are healthier, with fewer stomach and diarrhoea problems, their attendance has improved, and little by little their education is benefiting. Health champions (a teacher in each school who works with WE REACH to oversee the WASH programme) proudly introduced their health clubs, girls and boys aged around 7 to 13 who meet up to three times a week to learn about health issues. Hand-washing stations were in place, latrines were clean, morale was high. And most of all, the youngsters were having fun.
How could a child not enjoy using a piece of string, a nail and a glass bottle as a way to learn how to use a latrine properly – and so much the better when it’s competitive? Children joined in a hand-washing relay race. A little girl in a play was taken to a scary “witch doctor” (who was in his element!) in an attempt to cure an illness, until it was established that cleanliness was the key. Soap – normally way outside the budget of these schools – is made by the kids in a great big vat stirred with a wooden paddle, ready for them to use every day; it even smells nice, an unheard-of luxury. Games, poems, songs, role play: all are introduced on a month-by-month basis by Erick and his assistant, Edwin. And best of all, the message is spreading out from the schools to the parents and to the wider community.
Of course, huge challenges remain, including a lack of water, which for most schools is brought in by their learners from a borehole or nearby stream. But the resourcefulness of these schools in combination with the experience introduced by WE REACH is producing results that surpass anything we had anticipated. Finally, we understood how something so simple could be so effective.
By Edwin Ngongesa | Program Officer
By Edwin Ngongesa | Project Officer
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