Through creative, joyful and targeted sensitisation, schoolchildren learn in a playful way how to deal with water and hygiene in a sustainable, hygiene-conscious and health-conscious way.
Project Goal
The aim of this project is to improve access to clean drinking water, sanitary facilities and hygiene workshops at 20 schools in Uganda effectively and over the long term.
Viva con Agua specifically focuses on project work in schools, as the children act as agents of change who transfer the improved practices they have learnt to their households and communities and thus raise awareness of the issue in their private environment.
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The project will benefit a total of 16,000 schoolchildren aged 8-18 as well as their teachers, caretakers and local service providers.
Current situation
In the capital Kampala and the urban district of Wakiso in Uganda, only 58% of primary schools have a water supply. 44% of primary schools are currently unable to provide children with hand washing facilities.
The situation in schools is precarious, with only 58% of primary schools having a water supply. In addition, the national standards recommend a ratio of 40:1 of pupils to toilet places, but reports from the districts show that the ratio of places for girls is 68:1 and 72:1 for boys. 44% of primary schools are currently unable to provide children with hand washing facilities.
The lack of toilets and basic handwashing facilities with soap contributes to the spread of diseases such as intestinal worms, schistosomiasis and conjunctivitis and keeps children and teaching staff away from the classroom. This leads to poorer school performance. The lack of toilets and water supplies in schools also prevents girls and young women from being able to wash during their menstruation, which in turn leads to absenteeism from school. Infections caused by inadequate access contribute to malnutrition, which impairs children’s mental and physical growth and development. Poor health is associated with poor cognitive and academic performance in children. Viva con Agua Uganda wants to change this situation.
Project activities
The provision of high-quality WASH infrastructure (water tanks, sanitary facilities, hand-washing basins, water filters, etc.) is the first step towards a healthy, safe and supportive school environment. Viva con Agua also organises sustainable awareness-raising workshops at the schools.
Viva con Agua is convinced that effective awareness-raising work can create the basis for improving health and hygiene, including menstrual hygiene, and that this will have a long-term positive impact on the lives of schoolchildren. The measures reduce infection with WASH-related diseases and help to reduce absenteeism at school. The “Football4WASH” sensitisation approach specially designed by Viva con Agua Uganda sensitises the children to the topics of water and hygiene in a fun and sustainable way. This interactive and fun approach motivates schoolchildren and teaching staff to adopt sustainable, health-conscious hygiene behaviour.
The combination of infrastructure, health-promoting behaviour and education has a positive impact on the health and hygiene conditions of the community, both now and in the future. Viva con Agua’s strategy aims to make a sustainable contribution to the UN goals in the areas of clean water and sanitation, health, education and gender equality of the 2030 Agenda for Sustainable Development.
Specifically, the following project activities are being pursued:
Examples of donations
With CHF 20 you can finance a pipe for the connection to a washbasin.
With CHF 40 you can make a sieve for a gutter possible.
With CHF 80 you can equip a school with a ceramic water filter.
With CHF 90 you can finance 6 footballs for the hygiene workshops at an entire school.
With CHF 200 you can provide 4 gutters for 2 school buildings.
With CHF 480 you can finance a total of 6 ceramic water filters for a school.
With CHF 2’500 you can equip an entire school with hand-washing stations
With CHF 7‘500 you can provide a school with a rainwater system with water tanks, pipes and distribution.
With CHF 10‘000 you can finance the construction of an entire toilet block with water-powered flushing systems at a school.