Tag Archives: water

Free Bikes Keep Indian Girls in School, Water Issues, & More

Free Bicycles Help Keep Indian Girls in School
In an effort to improve literacy and high school graduation rates among girls one of India’s poorest and least developed states, Bihar, is giving free bicycles to students who live long distances from school. The program, which launched in 2007, has seen great success and produced a remarkable increase in the number of girls registered in school. It has been especially helpful for girls living in remote villages who would otherwise have to drop out due to the long distance between home and their high school. In addition to the free bikes, the government of Bihar is also giving out free school uniforms. Authorities require students to maintain a 75 percent attendance record in order to earn the bike and uniform. Read more here.

Niger Children Miss School to Search for Water
Over 80 percent of the population in Niger does not have access to running water. As a result, most school-age children, particularly girls, are given the laborious burden of finding safe drinking water, which is a search that overrides just about everything else including their studies. In Zinder, one of Niger’s largest cities, things are especially bad following a short rainy season. Officials say a third to one-half of students have abandoned their classrooms. “It’s the water that is keeping them out of school,” said Salissou Sahirou, an education official in Baban Tapki. Read more here.

Literacy Program Thrives for Women in Morrocco
An accelerated literacy program targeting girls and women in remote villages throughout Morocco is changing lives. As part of the nation’s literacy campaign, the program requires students to complete 300 hours of basic reading, writing and numeracy classes. The girls are also given lessons in social and civil rights, development, environment and income-generating activities such as weaving, baking and beekeeping. Read more here.

Millions of Girls Still Lack Sanitary Pads in Kenya
More than 3 million girls in Kenya still don’t have access to sanitary pads. Beatrice Muta, the ambassador of the Saidia Dada Network Kenya, says it’s shocking that so many girls and women, especially those in remote villages, are still using old blankets, leaves or whatever is available during their menstrual period. Muta also said this remains one of the major contributing factors to the high drop out rate among girls. Read it all here.

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Hope for Water at the Kibera School for Girls

Community members at the Clean Water Project in Kibera

Community members at the Clean Water Project in Kibera

Did you celebrate World Water Day on March 22nd? Children worldwide, especially young girls, suffer at the hands of unclean water. When water isn’t easily accessible, education also becomes less obtainable. Girls are typically the ones responsible for walking miles each day to fetch water for their families, thus taking them out of school and often placing them in harm’s way. Given these circumstances, it’s no surprise that the She’s the First partner schools I work with pour so much effort into bringing water points closer to their schools and communities.

At Shining Hope for Communities, home to our partner, the Kibera School for Girls, Kibera residents pay up to ten times more for water than those in the capital city of Nairobi. Kibera residents’ unclean water supply takes a disastrous toll on the city’s health. However, we can’t forget that hope is right in Shining Hope for Communities’ name!  Shining Hope is rejuvenating its community by providing Kibera’s largest single water point.

The Clean Water Project is in its pilot phase, but already provides 12,000 people per day with clean water. How does this impact the community? The Justin-Jinich Community Clinic is now better poised to prevent and treat waterborne, infectious diseases. Shining Hope sells clean water below the market price so no family is cutoff from access to clean water. In addition, the water tower profits will be used to help fund the Kibera School for Girls.

Shining Hope for Communities’ Clean Water Project unites the Kibera community in developing a sustainable model to ensure that this basic human right—access to clean water—is met. In collaboration with The Safe Water Network, Newman’s Own Foundation, Nairobi City Council and David Engineering Ltd., this truly is a community-based project. There’s an inextricable link between access to clean water and girls’ education. Shining Hope for Communities proves that by bringing water to a community, the ripple effects are tremendous!

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