For almost five years, Ryan’s Well and our partners at AED Togo have helped to provide WASH – water, sanitation and hygiene – for schools near the capital city of Lomé. Our past work in Togo has improved school environments for thousands of students and their teachers while providing water supply for neighbouring communities.
Throughout this time, we have collaborated with volunteers from Sleeping Children Around the World. Some of these very motivated volunteers have now started building schools with Support. Education.Togo. (SET) and local partner AED Togo.
Asso School is one of the first schools built by SET. It was completed in late 2012 and is now a much improved learning environment for over 2,700 students. However, there are some important pieces still missing – water, latrines and handwashing! That’s where Ryan’s Well and local partners AED Togo come in. WASH for Asso School will provide water supply with a new well and storage tank, sanitation with new latrines and hygiene with a new handwashing station and education!
Activities:
- Drilling and construction of one well
- Construction of a latrine and handwashing station
- Construction of yard taps for collecting water both within the school grounds and for the surrounding community
- Training for teachers, students, parents and administrators on how to manage the new resources and practice positive hygiene behaviours
*Costs include (in Canadian dollars): water quality monitoring, hygiene education activities, water source committee training, project monitoring, reporting & partner coordination for WASH sustainability, all construction, drilling, materials and labour as required.
Updates:
25-Sept-2013 We are pleased to announce that this project has been completed. During the course of this project, we encountered problems in the water quality at the school site. There was contamination of the water source due to a phosphate mine that was close to this site that closed down a number of years ago. In working with our partner AED Togo and with input from local government and the community, the situation was dealt with by relocating the funds to the rehabilitation of a deep well in the community which depends on a different water source. This well is at a depth of 150 metres. Water testing performed at the University of Lomé and the water quality is of a good quality.
Highlights of this project :
- installation of gutters for a new water tank (water used for both drinking and handwashing)
- Construction of handwashing station
- Rehabilitation of a deep well that is used by both the school and community
- Training of village community, students and teachers in health and hygiene
- Training for a maintenance worker for both the tank/gutters and well site
- Construction of eight latrines.
As a result of the new well, a new community committee has been formed and an account has been set up with a microfinance system. A minimal amount of funds are obtained for exchange of water. The fund will be used for the training of the maintenance worker, regular maintenance and repairs of the site.
This project was an eye-opener for the community . The pollution of this initial site with regards to the phosphates still in the ground from mining that took place a number of years ago continues to contaminate a certain area. The community was exposed via training about the health risks involved in the drinking of contaminated water. The attendance of girls at the school has increased because of the latrines now available. There are now hygiene and health clubs in the classrooms.
The latrines being built are based on what is called a dual ecological system. Four stances will be used until they are full. At the time they become full, the second group of stances are used. The contents of the first group of latrines are treated by a specialist in Lomé who then in turn uses the contents for fertilizer. This is a very good example of how a community makes a project more sustainable.
30-May-2013 The best laid plans don’t always succeed as expected unfortunately. Water quality testing by the University of Lomé has indicated that the water does not meet required standards for safe consumption. This was a great disappointment to all involved as the well will be closed for safety. Thankfully the pump and most pipes can be re-used at a future site and alternative arrangements are now being made for rainwater harvesting for the school and assessing the possibility of improving an existing well in the nearby community. The latrines and handwashing are continuing as planned along with important training. More details yet to come.
6-May-2013 Work at Asso School continues with great success to date. The well was drilled to a depth of 72m to reach good quality water at a greater depth. This great depth minimizes the risk of poor quality water due to a phosphate mine in the area. As Kouma Dekalikan of AED Togo stated “This sparked huge satisfaction for students, teachers and parent committe.” A water sample was collected and tested by the University of Lomé. Construction of latrines and piping for yard taps and handwashing stations continues. A visit by S.E.T. in April helped to further encourage the students, teachers and parents of Asso School.
4-Mar-2013 The agreement with partners at AED Togo is now signed and the project is getting underway as of March 8th! Volunteers from Support. Education.Togo (SET) will be visiting Asso School in April and will provide more information on the progress to date. Many thanks to Bob Barclay and friends at SET!
To Learn More:
1. Video of S.E.T. Togo Visit 2012 (including Asso School)
2. Media Release RWF and S.E.T. Togo (March 2013)
