School hygiene and sanitation project, Kenya
AMREF has put into action the Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Education (PHASE) programme in rural Kenyan communities where hygiene and sanitation conditions are often poor, resulting in the spread of dysentery, diarrhoea and cholera.
PHASE is also being implemented in the urban ‘slum’ settlement of Kibera, in Nairobi. Living conditions are particularly poor because the government doesn’t recognise the slum as its responsibility, and provides no basic water or sanitation, education or health services. Overcrowded conditions spread disease quickly, and children suffer poor health because of inadequate nutrition and lack of access to clean water and sanitation.
PHASE aims:
With support from GlaxoSmithKline , AMREF works with local communities to implement PHASE, promoting good hygiene, sanitation and water practices. It does this through primary school children, because they are seen as an effective way to educate their peers, families and communities.
The project has reached 74,000 children (plus their siblings, parents and teachers) in 247 rural primary schools across Kenya, and aims to reach a further 10,000 urban school children in Kibera. It is improving their health and hygiene practices, and providing better sanitation facilities. This includes:
- hygiene and sanitation training for pupils, teachers, parents and government officials
- supporting schools and communities to improve and provide hygiene and sanitation facilities such as latrines, water tanks, hand-washing facilities and ‘leaky tins’ (perforated tins containing water for washing hands)
- producing hygiene and sanitation learning materials for use in schools
- developing a handbook to replicate PHASE activities in all schools.
Achievements
Pupils have improved their hygiene practices, reducing disease and absence from school, and improving academic performance. Between 2004-06 the percentage of:
- households with latrines rose from 69.8% to 84.6%
- schools using leaky tins increased from 15.4% to 58.5%
- pupils sharing a school latrine fell (from 87 to 77 pupils)
- schools using safe water sources rose from 57% to 67%
- schools using refuse pits increased from 89.5% to 96.9%
The Ministry of Education has now incorporated PHASE into the national school curriculum and has rolled out the PHASE model in all schools in Kenya (excluding Kibera). It is also being replicated by AMREF in Uganda and through other partners in Zambia, Nicaragua, Peru, Bolivia, Mexico, Indonesia, Bangladesh, and Tajikistan.
