From 2018 till date, Center for Integrated Health Programs (CIHP) has provided educational support to 300 primary and secondary schools in Kaduna, Kogi, Gombe and Lagos states with over 11,000 Orphans and Vulnerable Children (OVC) children benefiting.
In Gombe State, Northern Nigeria, more than 5,000 students in Hassan Central Primary School in Bolari Community have benefitted from a safe drinking water project. Though the school had a 1000-gallon water tank, it had just one tap with a crowd of students gathering around it. Often only older students get water to the detriment of the younger ones.
To supplement access to clean, safe drinking water, a CIHP supported community-based organization, Kishimi Shelter and Care Foundation, constructed a borehole for the school through the block granting project.
CIHP OVC Project Lead in Gombe, Ms. Deborah Zakayo explains that block granting“is a support given to a school for major projects in exchange for a school fees waiver for number of selected students attending the school, this educational support approach seeks to institutionalize conducive teaching and learning environment in pilot public schools”.
This water project in Hassan Central Primary School improved hygiene as well as reduced the rowdiness and contamination associated with struggle for drinking water.
The Primary School’s Headmaster states that
“This is the best intervention that we have ever had in the history of this school by any non-governmental organization. It has put smiles on the faces of the children and surrounding communities. This will go a long way to create a conducive study environment for the children. May God bless CIHP.’’
