TGE Invests in Woman-Led Welding Microenterprise to Bring Sanitation to 21 Schools

Written by TGE Volunteer, Barbara Kohn

Opportunity knocks during COVID

With the pandemic still out of control, but at home learning nearly impossible, the Kenyan government required schools to re-open for Grade Four and Class Eight pupils on October 12, 2020, because of the importance of these exam years in the students’ development and future trajectory. While that was good news for the students, there was a major hurdle. In order to re-open, schools had to provide hand-washing stations to ensure good hygiene. The problem was the government offered no funds for the equipment and schools couldn’t afford to purchase them. The makeshift hand-washing stations employed by some schools, which consisted of poking a hole in a jug of water and plugging it with a pen cap or another similar doodad, were insufficient to ensure proper hand cleaning.

School handwashing stations would normally not be considered in line with TGE’s mission to create self-sustaining community programs. But, promoting educational opportunities is. We were particularly concerned for students in Kiambu County, where TGE got its start, to get back to school.

Fortunately, we learned about Jane Mumbi Mugo. Jane grew up in the Children’s Home that we work most closely within Kiambu County, pursuing a degree in Mechanical Engineering with a major in arc welding, a field where even today women make up only 6 percent of the workforce. Determined to establish her own mobile welding business, Jane worked with skilled welders in order to gain hands-on experience. In time, Jane was proficient at welding a host of items, such as shoe racks, beds, windows, trench grills, school lockers, stores, and go-downs or warehouses. The only thing standing in the way of launching “Portiah Welders,” the name she chose for her mobile business, was owning her own machine.

It became clear to us that Jane could build the hand-washing stations and, at the same time, we could help Jane get her mobile welding microenterprise off the ground. In October, we hired Jane for the job. We sent TGE’s local project coordinator into Nairobi town to purchase the initial equipment, which included a welder and a grinder.  With her new equipment, Jane set to work to make five hand-washing stations for each of the 21 schools in Kiambu County school district for a total of 105 stations. 

The stations include an iron stand to hold the water jug and a foot pedal to dispense the water so that there is minimal human contact with the equipment. Each handwashing station took Jane two and a half hours to make, so she was able to make five per day. At the end of last year, we distributed all 105 stations, giving students access to clean water and soap to make sure they had a safe learning environment.  

The Future

Building handwashing stations has paved the way to a promising future for Jane. News about her work with TGE spread and she’s now getting calls from prospective clients. She’s also working in a construction site making windows and doors. Now that she has her own business, Jane says, “I want to help other people also achieve their dreams, both in this field and other areas for their fulfillment.”

As for the hand-washing stations, they were a huge hit and TGE has a second, larger request other school districts to provide the same for them. Project assessment and planning is still in the works, so if you are interested in helping to keep students safe during the pandemic while they continue to learn, DONATE HERE to a similar sustainable clean water project in Uganda. And we’d love to hear from you! E-mail us to share your thoughts or ideas about this or any of our projects.