A group of Montana State University (MSU) students is working on an engineering project to improve sanitation at Mundeku Primary School in Khwisero, Kenya. The initiative is part of MSU’s Engineers Without Borders (EWB) chapter, which collaborates with the Kenya-based nonprofit M-Koko. M-Koko acts as a liaison between local government officials and EWB to identify schools in need of clean water or sanitation facilities.
The current latrines at Mundeku Primary School are simple pits covered by small buildings. These facilities have raised concerns about hygiene and could lead to the school’s closure if not improved. The new latrine designed by the MSU team will be built atop a brick-lined pit, allowing sanitation trucks to pump out waste—a process not possible with the existing holes in the ground. The facility will also include an incinerator for disposing of feminine products.
“Our projects focus on improving the lives of the people in the community that we work in,” said Brenna Durbin, a senior at MSU double majoring in chemical engineering and math. “We do that by providing clean water or clean sanitation services.”
Durbin, who serves as co-president of MSU’s EWB chapter along with Elsa O’Neill, explained that M-Koko identified Mundeku Primary School as a high priority after consulting with public health officials. She said, “M-Koko went to the public health office, who gave them a list of schools that are in need of clean water or sanitation services. Mundeku [Primary School] is a high priority of the public health office’s since it’s near being closed because of the sanitation at the school.”
Before finalizing their design, eight MSU students and two professional mentors visited Kenya this summer to meet with local stakeholders and discuss project goals. They spoke with school administrators and members of the board of management and interacted with students during informal activities such as volleyball and Frisbee games.
“We talked in depth with the head teacher, the principal, the teacher that deals with the sanitation and some of the members of the board of management,” Durbin said. “We were able to interact with the students, too.”
Durbin noted that involvement in these projects provides learning opportunities for both MSU students and Kenyan communities: “The benefits of Engineers Without Borders go both ways,” she said. “We learn so much through our involvement with these projects and to be able to work with people from Kenya. Then, of course, there’s getting to implement these international projects. A lot of the ones MSU students previously worked on are still impacting the lives of these students 10 and 15 years after they were put in.”
The new girls-only latrine project is expected to move from design into construction within a few months.
