Appalachia: Piped Water for 3 Homes (#3)
Our implementing partner, DigDeep, identified Appalachia as one of the hot spots in America in which water access remains a critical issue. Communities in parts of rural Appalachia face three key water challenges: lack of household water access, poor water quality, and lack of wastewater services. Appalachia spans 420 counties across 13 states, from southern New York to northern Alabama, and is home to approximately 25 million residents. According to the Economic Innovation Group’s Distressed Community Index, McDowell County in West Virginia has the highest level of distress of any county in the United States, with an index value of 100 on a scale of 0 (most prosperous) to 100 (most distressed). One of 55 counties in West Virginia, McDowell County has a primarily rural population of approximately 18,000.
Brave Stars School
Brave Stars School serves 350 students in the Wakiso community. While the school currently has a metallic rainwater tank, the water it collects is reserved for their bathroom facilities, leaving only a contaminated traditional well 363 meters (.23 miles) away.
Bumwende Primary School
Bumwende Primary School is located in Bumwende community. The area around Bumwende primary is vegetated because most of the people are small scale farmers. The surrounding area is full of homesteads. The school is also near ACK Emaira church, Bumwende Salvation Army, and Elwakana Health Center.Bumwende Primary School was initiated in 1979 when 3 acres of land were donated by community members. It started with ECD class but now it has grown up to class 8 and it's a center of KCPE exams. The school has produced important members of the community, eg police officers, teachers, church leaders, nurses. The school has grown to over one thousand pupils, has progressed well in academic performance, and in the year 2019, three pupils joined National Secondary Schools.
Dynamic Junior School
Serving 351 students in Uganda’s Nakyelogosa community, Dynamic Junior School currently relies on water from a nearby shallow well but continually finds its needs unmet.
Givudemesi Primary School
Founded in 1992, Givudemesi Primary School has never had a water source on campus. Instead, it relies on students bringing water from home – but where they collect their “home” water varies.(Some photos pre-date the pandemic.)
Idodi Primary School
Idodi Primary School is located in Idodi Village within Iringa rural district. The school has a population of 953 students (446 girls and 507 boys) and 13 teachers/staff members. Access to safe water is the major problem the school faces on a daily basis.
Ingavira Primary School
Ingavira Primary School was established on a small plot of land surrounded by sugar plantations and community homes in 1981. It’s a public primary school with a large number of students that perform averagely in academics. The area is noisy with motorbikes and tractors which transport sugarcane from farms to the West Kenya Sugar Factory across the road from the school.
Irimba Primary School Boys Latrine
Deep in Nakasongola, Uganda, Drink Local Drink Tap (our implementing partner) has partnered with the Irimba community for many years. As DLDT expands water service in this area, sanitation facilities need to also be completed. Irimba Primary School hosts children from multiple villages. Girls especially like to go to school there because of the DLDT toilets (ventilated improved pit latrine- VIP) and the water well (borehole). The last item the school needs is a latrine block (VIP) to host a few hundred boys. The girls received theirs a few years ago.