Following a successful pilot project to provide clean water to students in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) who had been drinking contaminated water from nearby Lake Tumba in 2023, we are looking forward to continuing our new partnership this year with Technologies Appropriées pour le Congo, Association Sans But Lucrative (TAC Asbl), headquartered in Kinshasa.
TAC Asbl executive director Lucien Beele requested in February grant funding to construct wells at two more schools in the DRC, the Sengondi and Tosalisana primary schools located in Bikoro in the country’s Equateur Province, serving 305 and 342 students, respectively.
“At present, these schools face a major challenge,” Lucien reported, noting “limited access to drinking water for pupils and staff, except for that which can be supplied from a source sometimes exposed to contamination.
“This situation forces students to consume untreated water, which has a negative impact on their educational progress,” he said. “In addition, a large number of pupils are regularly affected by water-related illnesses, contributing to high absenteeism rates.”
Lucien also pointed out that collecting water, “which takes several hours every day, is another obstacle to children’s education” particularly for “young girls, often entrusted with this task, have to walk long distances to the water point, resulting in school absenteeism.”
Throughout the DRC, he explained that WASH-related (Water, Sanitation, and Hygiene) infrastructure “is lacking” and “menstrual hygiene facilities are not being addressed.”
Lucien cited statistics from the Ministry of Primary and Secondary Education which state “Nearly 85 percent of public and community elementary schools in rural areas do not have access to safe drinking water and nearly 78 percent do not have functioning latrines.
“Each year, 3.5 million school days are lost in the country due to illnesses related to poor hygiene practices and lack of WASH infrastructure.”
While the problem is widespread throughout the country, Lucien explained the reason that the Sengondi and Tosalisana schools were targeted is because “Unfortunately, both schools lack access to drinking water and sanitary facilities for pupils and staff.
“These schools were chosen for this project and for the school Friend of WASH’ program because they are among the schools that have many difficulties in terms of drinking water supply.
“As a result, pupils are often sent to fetch water during school hours, sometimes from unprotected and untreated sources.
“Consumption of untreated water leads to a high prevalence of water-borne diseases among pupils, and the absence of drinking water at school is a major cause of truancy.
Additionally, “this situation also affects the 950 residents of the school’s two neighboring districts,” he told us.
“Consumption of untreated water leads to a high prevalence of water-borne diseases among pupils, and the absence of drinking water at school is a major cause of truancy.”
Lucien is requesting to construct the two wells t as well as funding for hygiene education for the two schools’ students and members of the surrounding community who will also be utilizing the wells along with other expenses. Lucien notes that the surrounding communities are contributing $750 (a small fortune in the DRC) towards the costs of construction and maintaining the wells.
And with the grant funding from Bread and Water for Africa®, made possible thanks to our generous supporters, “our aim is to support children by addressing this deficit in drinking water in schools, which is a source of disease and disrupts children’s education and well-being.”
