Water awareness project Nigeria (WAP) Report

This summer, I started and ran ‘The Water Awareness Project’ in Abuja, Nigeria, with the aid of the Rausch Internship grant from the Environmental Studies Department, at Wesleyan University. There is a growing water crisis in Nigeria with a large proportion of the population having no access to safe drinking water. It is estimated that only half of the 140 million people have access to safe water, and even fewer to basic sanitation facilities.

Constructing the water tank foundation

A talk at Raberto School

The goal of Water Awareness Project (WAP) was to create awareness among Nigerian youths on the role of water in practicing good sanitation habits, while emphasizing water conservation practices. In June, I gave 30-minute to 60-minute talks on the role of water in sanitation and water conservation practices in twenty-schools in Central Abuja. In July, I worked with the pupils of an Abro Hallmark International School, located in Mpape, Abuja, a settlement deficient of portable water. With the help of a plumber, the pupils and I installed a water tank that employs a rainwater harvesting system from the rooftop of a school building. This particular activity emphasized the importance of community engagement from one’s younger years and showed a water conservation practice. With the tank installation, It is hoped that the students will spend less time in search of water before classes and medical costs will be reduced as a result of water-related diseases contracted from the use of contaminated water.

A talk at another elementary school

Some of the students at Abro Hallmark

            At the end of July, I had concluded the water awareness project and conducted mini surveys from the students in participating schools.