Testimony from Cisimeut Raya Elementary School
Cisimeut Raya Elementary School is located in Lebak Regency, about 150 kilometers from Jakarta. As one of the schools that participates in the Nazava Safe Drinking Water for Schools Program, each classroom now has a Nazava Water Filter. Read on to learn how life has changed for students and teachers now that there is safe drinking water is available for all at their school.
In Indonesia, 79 percent of schools do not provide safe drinking water to their students according to Unicef. Cisimeut Raya Elementary School, a public school located in a rural area 150 kilometers from Jakarta was one of those schools. Without safe drinking water, many school children would buy sugary drinks, drink contaminated water, or suffer from dehydration. This causes to a myriad of health problems such as diarrhea, stunting, & wasting, all of which have a negative impact on a child’s development.
That was the case at least, before Nazava. As one of the schools participating in Nazava’s Safe Drinking Water for Schools Program, each classroom at Cisimeut Raya Elementary School now has a Nazava Water Filter. As a result, the students no longer need to decide between going thirsty or risk getting sick from drinking the tap water. They also save money from no longer buying drinks from outside.
Take Amanda for example, one of the students at Cisimeut Raya who says that Nazava has made her life easier. Before Nazava, Amanda would bring her own bottle of water from home but would often run out of water before the school day was over. Now, since her school has Nazava, she doesn’t need to bring water from home. She often fills her water bottle three to four times during the school day. Also the school no longer needs to waste money buying expensive bottled water that would often run out.
“The school doesn’t need to buy drinking water anymore. Filling the Nazava filter is easy, we just take water from the bathroom, pour it in the filter, wait a few minutes and then we can drink the water.” Said Amanda.
Amanda no longer spends her pocket money on buying drinks from outside. Instead she can add that money to her savings.
The teachers and staff also notice the benefits. One of the teachers, Mr. Purnawan, said that before Nazava, the students had difficulty bringing water from home. “Now since we have Nazava, classes have become more conductive. When students are thirsty, they just take from the water that’s in the classroom.” Said Mr. Purnawan.
Getting drinking water at Cisimeut Raya is now convenient and practical. Water directly from the well or tap doesn’t have to be boiled first. Nazava filtered water is clean, healthier, and more economical. The environment around the school is also cleaner since there is less plastic waste.
Mrs. Citra, Cisimeut Raya’s headmaster explained that it used to be difficult to get drinking water at school so it was recommended that students bring their own water from home. If they ran out of water, they would go to a nearby shop to buy drinks. As a result, the school would become very dirty with the accumulation of plastic waste.
“Since there is Nazava, drinking water is always available for teachers and students. The students drink a lot of water and are more focused on their studies.” Said Mrs. Citra.
Mrs. Citra hopes that more schools can join in using Nazava to fulfill the drinking water needs of students and teachers. Using Nazava is economical, easy, and good for your health.
To learn more about Nazava’s Safe Drinking Water for Schools program and how you can support the mission to provide Nazava Water Filters to 50,000 schools by 2027 click here!
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Adapted from an article written on Nazava’s Indonesia site by Prisca Davina. Translated by Steven Ramsey.