When Water Arrived, Everything Changed

When Frederik Lokeun looks across the grounds of St. Matthews Nadome Primary School near Kakuma Refugee Camp in Turkana County, he sees more than classrooms filled with learners. He sees what becomes possible when a community gains access to one of life’s most essential resources: clean water.

As the school’s headteacher, Frederik has witnessed how water scarcity shapes nearly every aspect of a child’s education. When water was difficult to access, absenteeism was common, hygiene challenges persisted and many learners struggled to fully participate in school life.

Everything changed when the school gained access to a reliable water supply.

Within just three months, enrolment increased from 500 learners to more than 600. More children began attending school consistently, spending less time coping with the challenges of water scarcity and more time focused on learning.

For Frederik, the improvement came as no surprise.

Access to water influences far more than thirst. It shapes health, hygiene, nutrition and ultimately a child’s ability to learn.

“Before we had clean water at school, children were often absent,” he says. “Now, we already see a difference.”

The benefits quickly extended beyond the classroom. 

With a reliable water source in place, the school strengthened its feeding programme, ensuring learners had access to meals such as maize porridge during the school day. Plans are also underway to establish a school garden that will provide vegetables for learners while creating practical opportunities for agricultural learning.

Reliable water also transformed the school’s sanitation facilities, creating a cleaner and healthier learning environment for all learners. For girls, the improvements have been especially meaningful. Access to safe, private sanitation facilities supports menstrual hygiene management and helps reduce disruptions to learning, allowing more girls to attend school consistently and participate with confidence.

“It is crucial for girls to finish school because it gives them a better chance to escape poverty,” says Frederik.

The changes taking place at St. Matthews Nadome Primary School reflect a broader transformation underway across Turkana West through the Sustainable and Inclusive Water Access for Refugees and Host Communities in Turkana West (SIWA) Project, funded by Denmark in Kenya through the Inclusive Refugee Responses Programme in Kenya and implemented by Amref Health Africa.

Since 2024, the project has enabled 83,800 people to gain access to safe drinking water. Reliable water supplies have reached 9 schools, 1 ECDE centre and 5 health facilities, while 40 villages have achieved Open Defecation Free status through improved sanitation practices adopted by 2,058 households.

These investments are strengthening community health while creating better conditions for education. Across the project area, 4,421 learners now benefit from improved school sanitation facilities that support hygiene, wellbeing and regular school attendance. The impact extends beyond school grounds as children carry improved hygiene practices home, encouraging healthier practices within their families and communities.

For Frederik, this ripple effect is one of the project’s most important achievements. Sustainable change happens when schools, families and communities work together to improve health and wellbeing.

His vision is simple: communities free from preventable waterborne diseases and children able to focus on learning rather than the daily challenges caused by water scarcity.

The experience of St. Matthews Nadome Primary School demonstrates that access to safe water is about far more than infrastructure. It creates the conditions for children to learn, communities to thrive and futures to flourish.

As Frederik puts it:

“Water is life. Water comes first, even before food.”

Author: Paullete Adhiambo, Communication Associate, Amref Health Africa in Kenya