Schools Of The World: Gifted Hands Educational Centre

What would happen if your school had no clean water supply?

Schools in the UK say they are short of resources because of budget restrictions and financial pressures but we don’t have to worry about water and sanitation.

The recent hot weather in the UK has made us all think a lot more about water and water saving. We worry about hose pipe bans for a while but then life goes on.

We take water pretty much for granted but some places around the world don’t. The world has a water crisis. Water is a ‘basic’ resource that is very precious especially in areas of extreme poverty where clean water is not readily available. Imagine not having any toilets in school?

The Kibera slum of Nairobi in Kenya is one of Africa’s largest slums and home to about a million people all crammed into land just 2 square kilometers in area.

Here you will find the Gifted Hands Educational Centre where water is a real issue. In Kibera people drink water out of rivers filled with rubbish and faeces. Watch Drew Binsky’s video for a snapshot of life in Kibera:

WATERisLIFE are helping this school to be self-sustaining and are drilling a well and setting up a water kiosk at the center of Kibera Slum.

A number of organisations are working hard to improve conditions where they can – see also the work of Engineers without Borders who say that

People, everywhere deserve a world where they can achieve their potential and live healthy, happy lives. The reality today is far from this and many of us still lack access to basic services.

Kenyan schools need water – this should never be a luxury but available, on tap as it is for us in the UK.

As Enginners without Borders say in their strategy statement, “Our problems are shared. We all have a collective responsibility to act.”