Moshi, TZ – Drought and growth brought need for school well improvements – 15 April 2019

Tupendane collaborated with parents, builders, and school officials to improve the well at Maendeleo Primary School. They made the well deeper, reinforced the inside of the well to prevent flood damange, and reinforced the walls of the pumping chamber.

This work supports work Tupendane has already done to improve water and sanitation (WASH) infrastructure at Maendeleo. Existing WASH projects include a school toilet block, a water connection, and handwash basins.

The well is also a critical piece of infrastructure to support Tupendane’s school breakfast farms and gardens. Over the past year, Maendeleo expanded their vegetable and banana gardens as well as their available farm land, which was crucial to protecting a productive harvest in challenging weather. Across East Africa farmers suffered from droughts and delayed rains. The situation became so severed that Maendeleo’s well was in danger of drying up.

The well improvements gave the school confidence to expand their farming and gardening activities. They built 12 new vegetable garden beds, planted 35 new banana trees, and added half an acre of farm land. The school still plans to add two more standpipes. The additional standpipes will allow for adequate watering for garden beds and bananas. T