Global Partners for Development

The students and teachers at Mawego Mixed Primary School in Kenya are all currently sharing the boys' toilet block. The girls' block has collapsed, and the teachers' block is full and in danger of collapsing. In partnership with the school and local community, we are building new toilets and installing six handwashing stations. The pits have been dug and the bricks are ready. Soon, the students teachers will have safe and private bathrooms as well as places to wash their hands.

"I am happy because I can now manage my menstrual cycle in dignity. Since Global Partners visited our school, we have been able to access water points in a separate washing block from the boys, and most importantly, a private space to bathe, change, and dispose of used sanitary towels. Our Menstrual Hygiene Management has improved significantly.'' Lilian Atieno Otieno. Student Omiro Secondary School.

Happy World Water Day! Did you know that 47% of schools in East Africa lack basic sanitation services (toilets), and half of schools in the least developed countries have no place for students to wash their hands? Global Partners is doubling down on our efforts to ensure East African schools and communities have access to clean water and sanitation. We are partnering with schools with critical water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) needs and working with their communities to develop effective and sustainable solutions.

At Global Partners for Development, we take pride in transforming lives of school children. Thanks to our partnership with King'ii Primary school in Homabay County, we were able to provide brand new toilets for boys, girls, and even teachers at the school.

Happy International Women's Day! According to World Bank research, each additional year of quality education can increase future income by 14% for girls. We are partnering with schools and communities in East Africa to get and keep girls (and boys!) in school by implementing projects that improve public health and education. Support local communities as they work to improve their children's lives by donating in the name of an inspiring girl or woman in your life: https://gpfd.org/donate/

Ogande special school is home to children with varied scopes of mental challenges. Because of its distance from water sources and the inability to drill boreholes, the school had no access to clean and safe water. We partnered with Ogande, located in a hardship area, to ensure their roofs were guttered for rainwater harvesting, they had enough storage, old water system were revamped, and they had sufficient hand-washing stations. This project is dear to our hearts because its completion and successful commissioning means improving the lives of many children living with disabilities.

Although we have a dedicated, hardworking team here at Global Partners, we don't work alone! We partner with school leaders and community members who evaluate their schools' challenges, identify projects to implement, and contribute to the success of the projects. At Nyakweri Primary School, located on Mgangano Island in the eastern part of Lake Victoria, community members are helping us install rainwater harvesting stations and build new latrines by transporting water from the lake for construction, providing labor, and supplying local materials. Thanks to the dedication of our partners, clean water and safe latrines are coming to Nyakweri soon!

When Homabay Primary School reached out to Global Partners to request partnership, this very large school in Kenya (1,750 students and 47 teachers) had very few working toilets. Some were sinking; most were full and in danger of overflowing. School leaders were concerned that they were going to be shut down. Now, just a few short months later, Homabay Primary has 16 brand new toilets, the teachers' toilet block has been completely renovated, and six handwashing stations have been installed. As with all of our projects, the community contributed to the success of this project by providing labor and materials.

Two new classrooms are in use at Semfuru Primary School in Tanzania thanks to a generous grant from Brethren Community Foundation The main livelihoods in this rural area are livestock keeping and small-scale farming. The school serves 733 students but lacks adequate numbers of both classrooms and teachers. Global Partners facilitators met with small groups of community and school leaders, and they expressed their desire for additional classrooms to address the shortage at the school. The community independently hired two teachers who have already begun teaching in the new classrooms!

The girls' latrine block (toilets) at Kaswanga Primary School has collapsed, and the teacher's latrine block is close to full and showing warning signs that it may collapse soon. Girls are sharing toilets with the boys, but those are close to full as well. The clay soil and high water table at the school mean that latrines are susceptible to collapse, so we are installing SanPlat latrines to keep the students and teachers safe. Global Partners has a remarkable team in Kenya, and they work hard to ensure that we efficiently deliver high-quality projects. The Kaswanga community has contributed significantly to the project as well by digging pits for the toilets, supplying timber, and transporting water. Photos show the old latrines and the new latrines in progress - it won't be long until they are ready!

When it comes to clean water projects, one size doesn't fit all. 2.2 billion people worldwide lack safely managed drinking water, and Global Partners works with schools and rural communities in East Africa to provide sustainable, community-owned solutions. We partner directly with local leaders and community members to ensure that their goals and visions guide the process. Our technical experts also look at a multitude of factors, such as groundwater level, annual rainfall, other water sources in the area, and anticipated usage, to determine the most effective projects to implement. Help us improve access to clean water: https://gpfd.org/donate/

Testing the new handwashing stations at Omiro Secondary School! When we first partnered with Omiro, the school only had three latrines (toilets) for 295 girls and three for 372 boys. There was no place for the boarding students to bathe, and the students washed behind the dorms at night. The school also lacked handwashing stations. Now, thanks to our amazing team in Kenya and the local leaders at Omiro, the school has six additional toilets, six new showers, and eight operational handwashing stations.

New latrines are coming to Oseno Primary School! Oseno currently has no working latrines (toilets), and we've partnered with the school to build eleven toilets and install six handwashing stations. This project will be complete within a few short weeks!