From the beautifully arranged school blocks, built for learners and a huge playground where students engage in sports activities, lies a hidden yet critical challenge at GK Prison Comprehensive School in Kajiado County.

Here, around 2,500 learners are forced to share just 16 pit latrines for boys and another 16 for girls, facilities that are not only almost full but are also overwhelmed by broken doors, poor sanitation and clouds of dust that sweep across the school grounds, making learning an everyday struggle.

Located just about two kilometers from Kitengela town, students navigate the challenges of education while silently enduring an overlooked sanitation crisis and lack of clean water.

This means that each toilet is shared by approximately 70 to 100 learners, undermining the World Health Organization (WHO)’s minimum standard requirement of one toilet per 25 boys plus one urinal for every 50 boys, and one toilet per 20 girls

For 15-year-old Johnstone Ouma, a Grade 9 student and the school’s Education Minister, the daily school experience is not just about books and exams. “Our toilets don’t have doors; it is hard to relieve yourself with no privacy, we also have a scarcity of water,” he says. “Some of the taps we are supposed to use after visiting the toilet are broken.”

Ouma’s experience reflects that of many others. “Sometimes the younger pupils end up urinating on walls or in bushes,” Ouma explains, “because they can’t wait in line or feel too shy to go into exposed spaces.”

The problem, as fellow student Scovia Akinyi outlines, is not just about discomfort but also health. “We don’t have water stations, that leads to infections,” she shares. “The toilets are dirty, and girls are suffering some even with urinary tract infections (UTIs).”

Akinyi adds that the lack of sanitary disposal bins, especially for adolescent girls, creates added vulnerability. “When changing pads, you just have to throw them into the pit latrine. But it’s not safe or dignified,” she says.

Water: A Precious but Controlled Resource

Kajiado county is one of Kenya’s semi-arid counties, it often experiences prolonged dry spells and erratic rainfall. Water scarcity isn’t just seasonal but a persistent challenge that affects everything from hygiene to learning as witnessed by learners.

The school therefore relies on rainwater harvested and stored in tanks. However, this is not sustainable during prolonged droughts that is a common occurrence in Kajiado. Austine Steve, another Grade 9 student, explains that water is sometimes locked away due to rationing fears. “Teachers say some students waste it, so they only open taps at specific times,” he says. “If you urgently need to wash your hands or clean your face, you’re stuck.”

Dusty learning environments exacerbate the situation. With classrooms often cleaned by dry sweeping, students with respiratory conditions suffer frequent coughing. “Sweeping raises dust, and it’s bad for students who are allergic,” says Ouma. “Mopping would be better, but we don’t have enough water.”

Strained Facilities with Overwhelmed Staff

Senior teacher Mr. Medrick Ater of GK Prison Comprehensive School highlights that the school hosts over 2,000 learners, around 1,000 boys and 913 girls not including the Early Childhood Development (ECD) learners. These are young children typically between the ages of 3 and 6 years, enrolled in pre-primary levels such as baby class, nursery, or pre-unit, as commonly referred to in Kenya.

Despite this large population, the school has only 16 toilets per gender. “We are forced to manage toilet time strictly. If a student misses the break or can’t finish on time, they are chased back to class,” he says. “Some students come to the toilet just for fun or to follow their friends. But even those in real need must often wait too long.”

He admits the school lacks a nurse to handle any emergencies that may arise, depending instead on nearby dispensaries. “We have seen cases of stomachaches and other illnesses, but we don’t have the resources to diagnose or treat them here.”

He adds, “When it’s dry, the dust affects the children. We used to sprinkle water on the assembly ground, but now we can’t. There just isn’t enough.”

Students and staff alike are united in their appeal to well-wishers, the county government, and Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) stakeholders to help restore dignity and health to this school.

“Just doors on toilets and working taps would be a huge relief,” says Stacy Wagaki, a soft-spoken Grade 9 student. “We are like your children too. Please help.”

Joyce Wangui, a parent at the school and one of the non-teaching staff, shares the challenges parents face when attending meetings and having to use the same latrines as the learners.

“Even when we come for parent meetings, you find that when the children rush to the latrines, it can take them an entire lesson before they all get relieved because they are so many and have to wait their turn,” shares Wangui.

Further, she adds that they have witnessed learners asking their friends to stand guard for privacy.

Learners have been forced to innovate a makeshift and put a black plastic sheet as a form of privacy where the door should be. It moves easily in the wind and doesn’t give enough privacy. Students call it “tandarua,” and it shows how hard things are when it comes to sanitation at the school.

“They ask their friends to stand guard for privacy.”

We are appealing to well-wishers to help increase the number of toilets. “Even for us parents, it’s difficult to relieve ourselves during meetings. Many of us are financially strained, which is why we haven’t been able to organize and renovate them ourselves.”

For now, plans are underway from the Rotary Club of Kitengela to support situation as schools remain so that when the they re-open in late august they get a dignified environment for learning.

For now, plans are currently underway by the Rotary Club of Kitengela, to support the situation in the school and other surrounding ones to ensure that when they reopen in late August, learners return to a more dignified and conducive learning environment.