Donations Bring Water and Sanitation to Rwandan School Children

Des Moines, Iowa – November 8, 2010 – Sometimes the simplest of ideas can make a world of difference.

Kinihira Primary School in Rwanda’s Western Province is like many in this tiny, densely populated African nation.  Nine hundred and eight elementary students attend the 12-room school that sits on a hilltop near the Gishwati Forest overlooking a beautiful valley.  In the distance, students can see the volcanoes of the Virunga Mountains.

The school, like the entire Kinihira village and most of Rwanda, has no electricity and no running water. The nearest water collection point, when operational, is in the village more than a mile away. Toilet facilities for students at Kinihira Primary School consist of a tiny building with two slits in a concrete floor atop a septic tank. Without water – and because gravity can only do so much – keeping the facilities clean and sanitary was impossible. Making a bad situation even worse was that the children had no opportunity to wash their hands. It was an unpleasant, unhealthy and, seemingly, unmanageable situation – until now.

Thanks to a conservation program, a simple idea and private contributions, water is flowing at Kinihira School.

Dr. Benjamin Beck is director of conservation for Great Ape Trust, an Iowa-based not-for-profit organization that directs the Gishwati Area Conservation Program (GACP) in Rwanda.  GACP, also known as Rwanda’s Forest of Hope, is a forest restoration and chimpanzee conservation initiative that began in 2007.  One component of GACP’s mission is to teach Gishwati-area students the importance of the environment and conservation.

“We have a field station in the village and Kinihira Primary is our local school. During one of our visits to discuss forest conservation, we noticed the unsanitary and unacceptable conditions for students,” said Beck.  “That’s when we determined a very basic rainwater collection system at the school could help protect the health of these children.”

During his travels throughout Rwanda, Beck investigated cisterns and water collection methods implemented at other schools and villages.  What he found were very effective systems constructed of metal gutters, brick and mortar – at a cost of less than $5,000 (USD).

With small private contributions from 21 donors throughout the state of Iowa and through the Combined Federal Campaign, the necessary funds were raised and construction began. Today, a 2,500-gallon rainwater collection system serves the school. In addition, Beck said the Forest of Hope project has hired an impoverished single mother from Kinihira to clean the restroom twice daily, and a Peace Corps volunteer, Trude Raizen, has provided the Kinihira students important lessons in hand washing and personal hygiene. She has installed a “tippy tap,” an ingenious low-tech, hands-free device to encourage hand washing, at the school.

“We will not be able to save a small population of chimpanzees in a tiny pocket of Rwandan rain forest if we neglect the people who live near that forest. These children can hear the chimpanzees’ calls from their classrooms and, through our eco-clubs, now understand the significance of the Gishwati Forest to their community,” said Beck.  “It’s important as a conservation organization that we invest in the young people of Rwanda because they are the future for the Forest of Hope.”