Andualem Anteneh, 38, grew up in Enebre Kebele, Enebsae Woreda, East Gojam, Ethiopia — a village without clean water or toilets. He completed a bachelor’s degree in Educational Planning at Debre Markos University, is currently studying for a master’s degree by distance, and has spent the past eight months living at the compound of Enebre Primary School, where he works as a supervisor. His wife and two young children live in the nearest town; he visits at weekends. Enebre Primary School has 407 students.
Water and sanitation at the school are severely constrained. There is one hand-dug well, restricted to teachers and staff. Students are told to drink water at home. Of the eight toilets — four for girls, four for boys — only three of the boys’ toilets are functional, and students cannot use them because there is not enough water to maintain them. If students need a toilet during the school day, they go home or to the fields. “One hand-dug well is not enough for all the students, so we tell the students to drink water at their homes. We can’t also let the students use the few functional toilets because we don’t have enough water,” Andualem said.
Andualem was part of a small group — two other teachers, a club representative, and the school director — who received hygiene and sanitation training from ORDA, the Organisation for Rehabilitation and Development in Amhara, a Max Foundation partner. He passed what he learned to 24 students and is re-establishing the school’s gender club, which had been inactive.
“The training made me aware that our girl students face a lot of challenges during their menstrual cycle. Early marriage is also common practice in our community. The school administration has now drafted a new plan to create awareness on early marriage, hygiene, and sanitation to bring about sustainable change through the gender club,” he said.
He is also renovating a room to serve as a menstrual health management space where girls can rest or change sanitary pads during school hours. “I wish to see that girls stop missing class due to menstruation,” he said.
Beyond the school, Andualem describes a community where diet is narrow — mostly injera with shiro stew — and where farmers tend to sell eggs and vegetables rather than eat them. The dry climate limits what can be grown, and poor harvests are common despite the cost of fertiliser. Handwashing before meals is practised, but rarely with soap. He includes himself in this: “Even if I have awareness of handwashing, I rarely wash my hands with soap. Even those who know don’t put it to practice.” He sees the connection between nutrition and behaviour as fundamental: “I wish people be aware of proper nutrition because healthy eating leads to a healthy mindset.”