Project
New classroom block for Eshisenye Primary School
Broken earth floors in the classrooms were leaving pupils exposed to jigger infestation. We took the case to the Mumias East CDF office, which responded by funding a new block so the old rooms could be repaired.
Beneficiary
Eshisenye Primary School
Our role
Advocacy and follow-up
Funded and built by
Mumias East CDF
The issue
Broken classroom floors
What happened
A classroom floor is a health issue
The problem
Floors broken down to bare earth
The classroom floors at Eshisenye Primary School had deteriorated badly. Concrete had broken up across large sections, leaving loose soil and dust where pupils sat and walked every day.
Conditions like these are how jiggers spread. Pupils in these classrooms were being infested — a problem that causes pain, difficulty walking and missed school days, and one that keeps returning while the floor stays broken.
Public primary schools fall under the national government. Fixing the floors was not a matter of charity. It was a matter of a public duty going unmet.
The response
A new block, so the old one can be fixed
We documented the state of the classrooms and returned to the Mumias East CDF office, the same channel we had used for the school's sanitation block.
The CDF office reviewed the case and chose a different solution from the one we had proposed. Rather than repairing the classrooms while pupils were still using them, it funded construction of a new block. Once pupils move across, the original classrooms can be repaired without disrupting learning.
Construction is under way. [ADD A LINE HERE ON CURRENT STAGE AND EXPECTED COMPLETION.]
The change
Before and in progress
A classroom at Eshisenye Primary School, with the concrete floor broken down to bare soil.
Loose earth and rubble across the floor where pupils sit each day.
The foundation and floor slab laid, with the first courses of brick going up.
Walls up to roof level and the gable formed, ready for roofing.
Outcome
What this shows
This is the second allocation Eshisenye Primary School has received after we raised its condition with the CDF office. The first replaced a collapsing toilet block. This one addresses the classrooms.
It also shows something about how advocacy actually works. We asked for repairs. The office funded a new building instead, on the reasoning that pupils could then move out while the old rooms were fixed. The outcome was not the one we proposed, and it was a better one.
Our role is to make sure the problem is documented, submitted through the right channel, and followed up until it is answered. What happens after that is a public decision, made in public offices, with public money.
Is a school near you in this condition?
If a public school in your community has facilities that are unsafe or unusable, we can help you document the problem and take it to the right office.
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