Naluko Primary School: Where the local community made students work for their water
Naluko Primary School had no water source, so they use a community borehole a kilometer away. The head teacher, Namaganda Mary, spent several years lobbying for a well to no avail. “I approached all of the local authorities. Some promised to help, but ultimately didn’t come through,” recalls Mary.
Mary had no idea how many times she had walked to the community well, but she knew exactly how long it took to fetch water, so she could never understand why it took the children so long. “It just didn’t make sense that they were gone that long.” recalls Mary.
The Surprising Reason Why Students were Missing Classes at the Naluko Primary School
Mary started asking her students and was shocked at what she heard “Some of the people at the well would tell us we had to fill up their containers before we could get water.” That was a story she heard from Namukase Zauja, a primary seven pupil at the school. The children did as they were told, because they did not dare to say no to an adult. Thinking that if they said no the adults might deny them access to the water.
“People from the community would tell them, this well is not for the school, you can use it, but we go first.” adds the head teacher.
When the lines at the well were long, which they often were, the children would end up missing a lot of classes. This was affecting both their test results and their enthusiasm for being in school. Something had to change!
One student, Namukose Zauja, was interested in finance. Her ambition was to be the manager of the local branch. Zauja was a hardworking student that came to class early and was always happy to help, but over time she grew frustrated. “My teacher made we fetch water for the school and I kept missing classes”.
“I am thankful to Drop in the Bucket, for giving us our own well. Now we can focus on our studies”. Zauja says she speaks not just for herself, but for the entire school. The new well changed everything for the staff and students at Naluko Primary.
Moments later Igole Moses, a teacher from the school walks into view. His hands are white with chalk dust from the blackboard. He has just come from teaching a seventh-grade math class. Moses stops at the well to wash his hands before greeting us. He laughs, “Before we had the well, I would have had to wipe the chalk off on my clothes before shaking your hand.” Mary, the head teacher nods in agreement.
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