In 2024, the Tanzanian government expanded Ndikwa Girls’ Secondary School to accommodate 900 students—every one of them living on site. But while the school grew, the infrastructure did not. No provision was made for water.

With no reliable supply, students and staff relied on a distant village water source that often ran dry. It meant long hours spent searching for water instead of studying or teaching. It meant limited water for cooking, cleaning, or irrigation. In dry months, fish died in the school ponds. Crops withered in the school garden. Toilets couldn’t be cleaned. Girls suffered from water-borne illnesses. It wasn’t sustainable.

In September 2024, with support from Africa Palms, Tanzania Development Trust funded the drilling of a 130-metre borehole and the installation of water tanks and pipes throughout the campus.

Today, thanks to that project, Ndikwa’s students have safe, clean water in their dormitories, toilets and kitchen. Their time and energy is no longer spent fetching water. It’s spent learning, growing vegetables, and managing a thriving school fish pond. Builders constructing new classrooms now have water on-site. The school is stronger and more self-sufficient.

One Form 6 student, Eunice Mbilikila, told us:

“The water project has reduced wasteage of time for searching water. We are grateful for this wonderful project.”