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The Rural Agricultural Educational Institute Mariano Melendro and its annexed elementary school Rafael Uribe are affected by constant water shortages, low water pressure, and contaminated water. This situation causes gastrointestinal and dermatological illnesses that affect school performance, and the community sees their academic performance, health, and hygiene compromised.
The community has a population of approximately 600 people, including students, teachers, and administrative staff will be directly benefited. The Educational Institute’s main building has 299 students, 146 girls and 153 boys from 6th to 11th grade aged between 11 and 18 years old. Teachers and agricultural support personnel number 50, and there are 10 administrative staff. The annexed primary school Rafael Uribe has 193 students, 88 girls and 105 boys from Kindergarten to 5th grade aged between 4 and 11 years old, and 11 teachers. In total there are 563 people permanently in the school between students, faculty, and staff, plus a floating population of about 100 between visitors, suppliers, etc., as well as 350 families that make up the local community that uses the school grounds for school and community events and are indirectly impacted.
Critical deficiencies in the school's potable water system are readily apparent. The community’s needs were identified through a survey to 112 members of the academic community, interviews with members of the community, and from a direct request from the heads of the school, supplemented with direct observation of the current hydraulic system’s condition and laboratory water analyses from the Department of Tolima’s Secretary of Health.
The findings show: compromised health and sanitation with 100% of the school community reporting that the water is not always potable (supported by the water analysis results) and is frequently of low quality, leading to gastrointestinal, urinary, and dermatological illnesses as evidenced by the registration and justification of school absences; an insufficient and deteriorated infrastructure with corroded internal pipes, leaks and low water pressure, a
mixing of treated and non-potable water due to deficiencies in the plumbing network which compromises its quality, and a lack of storage tanks to guarantee supply during shortages of external services; a negative impact in education and well-being due to constant interruptions to school activities because of a lack of water for drinking, bathrooms, and cafeterias and inadequate conditions that affect academic performance and student attendance; a lack of responsiveness and sustainability since there exists no current structured maintenance plan and there is a lack of training in the academic and administrative community for the care and maintenance of the system.
This comprehensive project seeks to guarantee a continuous supply of potable water with optimal water pressure and quality, to provide educational training in the rational and proper use of water as well as basic sanitation and hygiene, and to secure the community’s active commitment in the supervision and maintenance to ensure the system’s sustainability.
This project proposes the acquisition and installation of a robust system which includes: storage tanks, multistage surface pumps, sediment and activated carbon filters, and an ultraviolet with zeolite filtration system. The plumbing connecting and distributing water to the kitchens, bathrooms, and water fountains will also be reworked.
This system, designed to last over 10 years with low operative costs, will improve sanitary conditions, reduce illnesses, and significantly improve student well-being.
To ensure sustainability, a preventive maintenance plan with quarterly reviews and biannual cleaning of tanks and filters is to be implemented. This will ensure a high efficiency of the proposed system because zeolite is long-lasting and has a low replacement cost and the ultraviolet system requires low maintenance, also reducing the need of chlorine eliminating residual smells and tastes. There will be an annual budget from the school and municipal support for maintenance and replacement of required parts. Club members will secure the creation of an operation and maintenance manual for the equipment, and students, teachers, administrative staff, and students’ parents will retransmit to their communities the training received on the rational use of water, hygiene, and basic sanitation.
The educational and local communities are the primary actors in all phases of this project, ensuring appropriation, social control, and sustainability.
During Implementation, students, students’ families, faculty, and staff will participate in the adaptation of the areas where the equipment will be installed, in logistics, and will provide support to the technical team. The School Committee guarantees that community leaders will provide oversight to guarantee transparency and quality during the execution of the project. For project continuity, a Water Committee, made up of members of the academic community that will be responsible for supervising the correct use of the system, reporting failures, and coordinating preventive maintenance, is to be created. Designated personnel will receive technical training to operate and clean the system, and maintain the plumbing in optimal conditions. This direct participation encourages a feeling of belonging and assurance that the project will be taken care of and sustained long-term.
The project is able to start as soon as funds are available, and has three distinct phases which in total should take an approximate of six months to complete. The hydraulic and electric grid of the school need to be adapted, as well as the equipment room, before the filtration system can be installed. Once this is done and the water filtration system properly installed and properly integrated into the school, the technical team made up of designated personnel from the school will be trained in the proper maintenance of the system. Throughout the implementation of this project, the community- primary school students, secondary school students, teachers, and the families in the wider community- will also receive specialized training in proper sanitation and hygiene, and in the safe and rational use of water in the installations.
The Rotary Club Ibague Ciudad Musical will be in charge of managing project funds through the club's foundation, Fundación Rotaria Ciudad Musical, which is overseen by the foundation's accountant and auditor. The Rotary Club Ibague Ciudad Musical will be in charge of maintaining all accounts up to date and bank statements, receipts, etc. with full transparency, authorizing payments through the club's foundation, preparing reports for Rotary International and international hosts and having regular virtual meetings with them.
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