Waterborne diseases among school-going kids are expected to decline following a countywide intervention necessitating clean and safe water in Nyamira schools.
The National Government Affirmative Fund is set to provide 400 schools with 10,000-litre water tanks that will be used to harvest rainwater in the institutions.
The water will be used for drinking and cooking food for the young learners in primary schools.
Already, Nyamira Woman Representative Jerusha Momanyi has issued 250 schools with the tanks.
At Omorare Primary School, the children have been walking for about three kilometres down the steep hill to fetch water from the nearby stream, an exercise that would normally cost them between an hour and two of class hours.
The same situation is at Nyanchoka Primary School in Bomwagamo where the nearby stream that is depended upon is about two kilometers away.
Speaking on Thursday at Omorare PAG, Nyanchoka, Kemasare, and Ntana primary schools where she issued the tanks, Momanyi said the urge to give every school a water tank was driven by the need for enhanced water harvesting as well as enhance hygiene for the school goers.
Kenya Demographic Health Survey 2022 Report indicates that Nyamira is among counties where diarrhoea diseases are yet to be reduced by 80 per cent.
According to the Report, two out of 20 pupils in Nyamira miss classes because of waterborne diseases, something that is highly attributed to poor hygiene practices and especially the accessibility of clean and safe water for drinking.
“Our children are highly affected by waterborne diseases and this is something we can deal with by ensuring we provide to them with clean and safe water especially here at school,” the MP said on Thursday.
She said all the 400 schools shall have received the storage facilities by the end of this year.
