Between 2000 and 2004, AMREF successfully implemented Personal Hygiene and Sanitation Education (PHASE) in 247 rural schools across Kenya in partnership with the Ministries of Education and Health. Based on the successes of this project in reduction of water borne diseases and school absenteeism, the Government of Kenya incorporated PHASE into its policy framework.
Kibera is viewed by the government as an illegal settlement and therefore was not included in the project. AMREF and its partners adjusted the PHASE model to the slum context and to start a pilot PHASE project in Kibera.
In 2007, AMREF added PHASE into the Kibera programme which was funded by GlaxoSmithKline (GSK). PHASE is a simple innovative approach that uses children as change agents to implement the integrated school and community health programme. With funding from AMREF in The Netherlands, the project has now expanded in scope to make it more integrated to include sexual reproductive health, child rights and nutrition as per the national school health policy. The integrated project now covers 40 schools from the previous 30 and will run through to December 2012
The integrated school project works closely with the health facility in medical outreaches to schools and also service provision to children. Community health workers trained in the MNCH project are also used as community resource persons in passing health messages to the larger community.
The project aims to enhance the capacity of pupils, teachers, health care providers, community health workers, the community and partners to address integrated health issues in the slum and to test and document the effects of improving health on pupils’ absenteeism, enrolment and performance in national examinations within the informal settlement.
Achievements
- Access to water within the school compound has increased from 65% in 2007 to 96% in 2010
- The latrine: pupil ratio has reduced from 1:150 in 2007 to 1:61 for boys and 1:54 for girls
- Adapted the PHASE kit for informal settlements in both English and Kiswahili language
- Increase in latrine coverage from 78.1% in 2007 to 92.6% in 2010
- Diarrhoea diseases had reduced from 26.4% in 2007 to 17% in 2010 among pupils and from 51.8% to 44% among their family members
- Baseline information on SRH, child rights and nutrition collected
- Integration of sexual reproductive health, child rights and nutrition in the school health project
- Capacity building of the PHASE forum (local lobby group) to address comprehensive health issues
- Stronger linkage with the health facility through a ‘free pass’ for children and adolescents
- Approximately 85% of pupils in intervention schools reported having not been absent from school between May and September 2010 compared to 57.1% during 2007.
Download the PHASE Project Brochure
