Two years ago, Kew Beach, my school in Toronto, built a well in Kenya through a charity called Free the Children. I went with my family to visit it and the village is called Salabwek.
Salabwek
First we saw the old school which the village parents had built because they wanted their kids to learn. It was very small and run down and in each class there would be up to 70 kids! But now the new class rooms only hold 25 to 30 kids so not bad.
Old classroom - New classroom - Schoolyard
The new school was very nice and had classrooms separated into individual buildings. The roofs were green and the walls were brick. They don’t have one building like we have because the government will only give more teachers if there is more then one building.
The well was not what I expected. It was not like a wishing well. The water comes from a bore hole. That’s when you dig down into the ground until you reach the water, then a pump pumps it up into storage tanks that are high up on stilts. The water flows down by gravity. And they also catch the rain water in eavestroughs which flow into a storage tank. The water from the well also goes to the whole village so the girls will not have to miss school any more because before they would have to walk most of the day to find water and bring it home.
The new well - The water tower - Rain water storage
Free the Children in Salabwek also has a program for high school students in Canada to come for a week or two to help with the projects. We saw a group when we were there. They were building a new kitchen for the school. So maybe in the future when you are older you might want to go there with your high school too. If you’re from Kew Beach you can see the well you helped build!
Canadian High School students were building a new kitchen
Salabwek Primary School is very fortunate to have the support of Free The Children. We visited another school that wasn’t so lucky and we’re raising money to help them out. Can you help us? Click here to learn more.
