The current water pump is owned by the disabled community. It's only open a few hours per day and is over a mile from the new classrooms.

The dry season is now at an end, but the community school at Simakakata is going to stay thirsty for a while. The local authorities in nearby Kalomo paid to have a borehole sunk outside the new classrooms almost a year ago, but there’s still no pump mechanism to actually draw water from it.

Meanwhile the school continues to share a pump with the local disabled community. Water is scarse and the pump is closed to the children between 10am and 1pm to conserve supply. It’s also about a mile from the new classrooms.

“We’ve been told that the parts for the handpump have been delayed at sea,” says headmaster George, “And so we’ve been waiting for several months now to use the new pump. We were told it would be done by the end of August, but we haven’t heard anything recently.”

When it’s finished, the borehole will be the only source of water for the new school. Without it, the children and teachers have little to drink during the day, and nowhere to wash their hands or maintain basic hygiene. It’s no wonder so many are often off ill with abdominal pain and diarrhoea. Easily preventable water borne diseases kill 5000 children a day across the developing world.

We will keep you updated with progress on the borehole. Our focus will (for now) remain on fundraising for the final two classrooms.