The Victims Support Fund (VSF) Taskforce on Covid-19, a private sector-led intervention group, has donated Water, Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH) facilities to three rural schools in Anambra.
The facilities were officially handed over by VSF Task Force team on COVID-19, led by Toyosi Akerele-Ogunsiji, to principals of the benefitting schools at Community Secondary School, Mbaukwu, Awka South Local Government Area.
Other recipient schools were Boys Secondary School Nteje in Oyi Local Government Area and Community Secondary School, Igbakwu, in Ayamelum Local Government Area.
The items handed over include a solar-powered borehole, four hand-wash stations, 2,000 pieces of reusable facemasks, 20 litres of hand sanitisers, 120 bottles of liquid hand-wash and five cartons of bleach.
Akerele-Ogunsiji said the gesture was part of the third phase of national intervention which involved the donation of WASH facilities to three schools in three states in each of the six geopolitical zones of the country.
Read Also: Covid-19: Faced with a new normal, Nigerian schools forcefully embrace digital learning
She said the interest was to shift from post-crisis intervention to the provision of preventive facilities to address health challenges posed by COVID-19 and poor sanitation.
She said the water facility could be made available for use of community people if the school wished but pointed out that they must apply for such approval.
She tasked the benefitting schools on the need to own the projects and ensure they were in good state all the time.
Akerele-Ogunsiji congratulated the schools and reiterated the resolve of VSF to go into hard-to-reach communities and address their needs.
Catherine Anizoba, principal of Community School Mbaukwu, who responded on behalf of others, said the water, Personal Protection Equipment and hand-wash items would go a long way in boosting personal hygiene of staff and students.
Anizoba thanked the VSF and those who recommended it for finding her school worthy of the donation and pledged to ensure that they would be optimally utilised for the purpose they were meant for.
She said she was glad that the project saw the light of day as scheduled and expressed the gratitude of all the staff and students of the schools that benefitted from the project.
