Month: May 2026

Jupala primary school

Published in 2025

For years, the people of Jupala Village in Lee Parish, Kucwiny Sub-County, Nebbi District, lived with a harsh reality: a lack of clean and safe water. Every day, women and children set out at dawn, walking long distances in search for safe water. The journey was exhausting, often taking hours, leaving little time for school. The water they used was often contaminated, leading to outbreaks of diarrhoea, dysentery and intestinal worms.

At Kikobe Health Centre II the facility served over 5,000 people without clean water. Health workers faced daily risks, treating patients without access to safe water.

At Jupala Primary School, the lack of water was a barrier to education.

The installation of the Lee Water System was a turning point. With the capacity to supply over 720,000 litres of clean and safe water every month, the system began delivering safe water to 1,830 households across six villages: Jupala West, Jupala Center, Jupala North, Kikobe, Namirembe, and Ayabu West.

According to Mr Okwairwoth Justine, the District Health Officer of Nebbi, this single improvement allowed the district to establish a new maternity unit, saving mothers from the long trek to another health facility. The burden of waterborne diseases also declined dramatically, saving lives and reducing hospital admissions. Health workers, too, felt safer, no longer fearing infection due to poor sanitation.

Village in Lee Parish, Kucwiny Sub – County, Nebbi District

Nyagoke Primary School

Published

Together with local governments and schools, AWS is training teachers and school children to educate young girls about periods and talk about them in a shame-free way. We have conducted Menstrual Hygiene Management in Nyagoke Primary School, located in Nyagoke Parish, Soni Sub-County, Tororo district. It has a total population of 1,329 pupils of which 679 are female and this has increased from 1039 pupils before schools were closed due to the Covid-19 pandemic. The school leadership attributes this growth largely to good sanitation and hygiene standards, the availability of the MHM room, and the presence of clean water in the school compound, which are key factors in a child’s performance at school.

Nyagoke Parish, Soni Sub-County, Tororo district

1,329 pupils

The girls would absent themselves from school during their periods, dodge classes and move to clinics looking for medicine for stomach ache which was reducing their time in class”

Ms. Akong Grace

Senior Woman teacher

Before we got the tank, we would get water from a well thirty minutes away; pupils were spending more time in fetching water and would use it as a dodging tactic to miss lessons which cannot happen now because we have the tank; The MHM room has given the girls privacy; the pit latrines have reduced congestion since girls and boys have their own.

– Opera Martin, Deputy headteacher

During our implementation, we trained girls to make reusable pads and taught them how to manage their periods so they feel confident and stay in school. We constructed a changing room where the girls have privacy and comfort during this time of school and also access painkillers easily; constructed a four-stance pit latrine with handwashing facilities for privacy and proper disposal of soiled sanitary pads, and a 10,000Ltr capacity tank to provide easy access to clean water for bathing and washing stained uniforms or clothes in case they are stained.

Both the pupils and teachers testify that girls have since started to attend school regularly and are more comfortable during the time of menstruation, and there is a reduction of water-borne diseases such as typhoid and diarrhoea.

We believe that improving menstrual health and tackling period-shame, we can improve girls’ attendance and performance at school; break down taboos and misconceptions around menstruation; raise girls’ self-esteem; and enable girls to fully participate in all aspects of society.

Accessing clean water means that these children here will have good health and proper growth. A clean environment allows children to study well and excel

Odoi Silver, teacher

Ali Ragem primary school

Ali Ragem Primary School

Published in 2022

Ali Ragem Primary School is one of five government-aided primary schools in Ragem Sub-County, Pakwach District. It is situated approximately 20 kilometers along the Pakwach–Wadelai road, serving a significant proportion of the local community.

The school recorded a total enrolment of 1,558 learners in 2023, up from 1,456 in 2022 — an increase of 6.5%. This upward trend reflects growing community confidence in the school and the positive impact of recent interventions.

The number of teachers has also grown considerably, rising from 13 in 2022 (11 male, 1 female) to 16 in 2023 (13 male, 3 female). This improvement in staffing has contributed to better classroom coverage and learning outcomes.

Before the construction of a yard water connection by Africa Water and Sanitation (AWS) in 2022, the school faced an acute shortage of safe drinking water. According to the headteacher, Mr. Olama Emmanuel, learners were compelled to trek more than two kilometres to the River Nile to fetch water — often from unsafe sources.

The consequences were severe. Water-borne diseases, including diarrhoea, typhoid, and intestinal worms, were widespread among both learners and teachers, leading to alarming rates of absenteeism and significant expenditure on medical treatment. Mr. Olama noted that between five and ten such cases were recorded every week.

Ragem Sub-County, Pakwach District

TOTAL ENROLMENT

1,558 in 2023

1,456 in 2022

Since AWS installed a yard connection within the school compound and provided water filters for drinking water treatment, complaints about water-borne diseases have reduced dramatically. School attendance has improved correspondingly, resulting in better academic performance.

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Ali Ragem Primary School has become the envy of many primary schools in Ragem Sub-County and Pakwach District as a whole. These interventions by AWS have increased learner enrolment, and we expect a steady increase this year and in subsequent years.

— Mr Olama Emmanuel, Headteacher

Sanitation and Hygiene

Latrine Facilities

Before AWS’s intervention, maintaining cleanliness in and around the latrines was extremely difficult due to the absence of water. The facilities were often filthy and in poor condition. Pupils frequently avoided cleaning duties, and the headteacher noted that using latrine-washing as a deterrent for latecomers inadvertently led to learners staying home to avoid the punishment — worsening the dropout rate.

The ratio of latrine stances to learners improved significantly, from 1:155 in 2022 to 1:79 in 2023, reflecting meaningful progress in sanitation infrastructure.

2022

1 stance

155 students

2023

1 stance

79 students

Handwashing Facilities

Handwashing was not a regular practice at the school before AWS’s involvement. With only two handwashing facilities — procured during the COVID-19 pandemic — and no reliable water supply, diarrhoea was rampant. Following AWS’s intervention, four additional handwashing facilities (HWFs) were installed. Learners are now routinely reminded to wash their hands at critical moments, contributing to improved hygiene practices.

Menstrual Hygiene Management

Before the construction of a dedicated MHM facility, the school had no private washroom or hygiene space for girls. This gap contributed significantly to high dropout rates among female learners, as well as reported cases of teenage pregnancy and early marriage.

With the support of AWS, a new MHM structure has been constructed, giving girls access to a decent and private facility. Girls have also received training in making reusable sanitary towels from locally available materials. A dedicated senior woman teacher provides regular guidance and counselling on menstrual health, further reducing absenteeism and dropout related to menstruation.