Project
New toilet block for Eshisenye Primary School
After a pupil fell into a collapsing pit latrine, we spent close to a year pressing the Mumias East CDF office until the school was allocated a new sanitation block.
Beneficiary
Eshisenye Primary School
Our role
Advocacy and follow-up
Funded and built by
Mumias East CDF
Time to secure
Almost one year
What happened
A year of letters, visits and follow-up
The alert
A pupil fell into a latrine
We were informed that a pupil at Eshisenye Primary School had fallen into one of the school toilets. When we visited the school, the reason was immediately clear.
The latrine block was structurally unsound. Walls had cracked and separated, sections of the floor slab had broken away, and doors were missing or propped up with timber. Pupils were using facilities that were unsafe to stand in.
The response
Pressing the CDF office
Sanitation at a public primary school is a public responsibility. We documented the condition of the block and took the case to the Mumias East CDF office.
We wrote formal letters. We visited the office in person. We followed up again when nothing moved. It took close to a year of sustained pressure before the school was allocated funding for a new block.
The Mumias East CDF constructed and commissioned the facility.
The change
Before and after
The old latrine block, with cracked walls and a broken floor slab.
Doors missing or falling away from their frames.
The new block under construction, roofed and walled.
The completed facility, commissioned by Mumias East CDF.
Outcome
What this shows
Eshisenye Primary School now has a safe, permanent toilet block. The pupils who were using a collapsing structure no longer have to.
The money for this already existed. Constituency Development Fund allocations are public resources meant for exactly this kind of need. What was missing was someone documenting the problem, submitting it through the right channel, and returning until it was answered.
That is the work. Not replacing public institutions, but holding them to what they are already funded to do.
Is there a case like this in your community?
If a public facility near you is unsafe or unfinished, we can help you document it and take it to the right office.
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