Quench And Connect

Programs: Since its inception in 2010, quench and connect has provided clean drinking water to high school students in uganda by constructing borehole water wells directly on school campuses, where 500-1000 students are fetching contaminated water from ponds and streams. After the borehole is drilled, students no longer suffer from water-borne diseases and are healthy and strong to study. The boreholes are drilled to the aquifer so the water can never be contaminated. Simple mechanical design ensures a borehole lifetime of 10-15 years. Wells are drilled by a ugandan contractor, employing 20-25 local workers, and the costs are modest. After the borehole is in place, student achievement has improved and enrollment at the schools has increased since local parents choose to send their children to a school that has clean water to drink. Access to the clean water has also been made available to hundreds of local villagers. To date, quench and connect has provided clean water to 16 schools, including two boreholes drilled in 2017. Each borehole provides clean drinking water for 2,000-3,000 students and their community.

in uganda, at the end of high school training, students take national exams to be ranked for eligibility for university education. Unfortunately, most students who score high cannot afford to attend university. Quench and connect provides university scholarships to star students who have severe financial need and are promising future leaders, as nominated by their head teachers. Scholarships cover all costs for tuition, room and board, school supplies, medical costs and living expenses to one of the 27 major universities in uganda. As a requirement for scholarship support, after the sponsored student has obtained a university degree, he/she must return to their home high school as a teaching assistant for one term. In this way, the recipient can serve as a role model to motivate future ugandan students. To date, quench and connect has provided scholarships to two top students. The first recipient earned a degree in development studies and has been hired by a humanitarian development organization in uganda. The second recipient is finishing his fourth year in an electrical/computer engineering program. The government of uganda does not yet provide universal high school secondary education, so nearly two-thirds of the high schools in the country are private schools established by parents and private citizens who recognize the value of secondary education. These schools operate on very small budgets received from modest fees paid by students families. Consequently, the schools have few teaching tools, and students have no textbooks. As another facet of its work, quench and connect has followed up with educational assistance. After a school has received a borehole and students are healthy, quench and connect has assisted the educational programs at selected schools. Quench and connects goal is to support the curriculum according to the priorities of the national educational program of the uganda ministry of education. To achieve this goal, following site-visits and discussions with teachers, quench and connect has identified donors to provide specific teaching tools needed by the teachers. The need is particularly great for science teaching. To date, teaching tools have been provided to six high schools by quench and connect donors. In each case, the academic achievement increased at the school. For science teaching, there has been an increase in students interest in science, computer technology, and mathematics after teaching tools like computers, microscopes, chemicals and small laboratory equipment arrived on campus. One of the recipient schools recently ranked sixth in science national exams among 350 schools in one of the strongest districts in the country.