Water Flows Again

Rotarian Ruth Ndwiga from the Rotary Club of Embu reports:

The thought that the pupils at Kathunguri and Karungu Primary Schools would not have access to clean water on site while the other seven primary schools in the Borewells project were benefiting from the project, provoked our thinking on what to do differently.

Head Teachers’ Conference

Once the further funds arrived from the Rotary Club of Billericay, the Rotary Club of Embu Borewell Project Committee together with the ACK Diocese of Embu, Education Secretary, called for a School Head Teachers’ meeting.  The first purpose of the meeting was to introduce the project to the new Headteachers, as some Headteachers who we had originally worked with, had either retired or been transferred to other schools.  The second purpose of the meeting was to come up with suggestions on how to maintain the sustainability of the borewells in the future once any agreed maintenance had been completed.

Deeper Wells

The meeting, which was held at Ena Primary School, was very successful. It was agreed that priority would be given to deepening the Kathunguri and Karungu Primary Schools’ borewells since, despite the completion of the original wells, the two schools had never received enough water to cover all their needs.  The Kathunguri borewell, which had a layer of a lot of hard rock, would be deepened first, and then we would move on to Karungu.

The next priority would be to purchase a new pump for Ndumari Primary school, but this was not until the school’s management committee had enhanced security at the school to prevent theft, as the previous pump had been stolen.

The other priority would be to repair the broken pump at Magaca.  The pumps would then be delivered to the schools in January 2025 as soon as the schools re-opened after the school holidays.

Waste Not, Want Not

The Rotary Club of Embu Project Committee made a visit to Kathunguri to ascertain the depth of the borewell and to meet the digger. We all agreed that we would use the services of a professional digger using an excavating machine as opposed to the previous diggers who dug manually.  This was going to cost a little bit more, but it was worth it.  Kathunguri Board of Management were also involved in identifying the proposed digger.  Once we agreed on the digging costs per foot, they began the work soon afterwards.

To our amazement, the rocks dug out made a huge heap, but it did not go to waste.  Kathunguri Primary School, which was in the process of constructing a classroom and needed hardcore for the floor, was able to use all of this rock.  There was enough for a complete classroom floor.

Joy and Excitement

The borewell digging continued into January when the schools re-opened, and finally enough water was flowing out to everyone’s joy and excitement.

The following week the Rotary Club of Embu Borewell Project Committee visited Karungu Primary School and introduced the same digger.  The deepening commenced, and within a week Karungu Borewell also oozed plenty of water.  Once again there was joy and excitement as the pupils enjoyed the taste of fresh cool water in the school.

Our grateful thanks go to the Rotary Club of Billericay for all their support and effort to accomplish this project.  By Rtn Ruth Ndwiga – Borewell Project Committee, Rotary Club of Embu