A PRIMARY school in the town of Kisumu, in Kenya, is enjoying fresh drinking water on the premises for the first time, after a Christian charity successfully drilled a borehole in the grounds to find it.

The well, which has taken years to find, will be used to provide lavatories, hand-washing facilities, and a kitchen for the 850 children and staff at the school. The project was funded by the charity Kisumu Children Trust, which supports education in poor communities in Kenya. It was founded 25 years ago by a former Church of England statistician, Dr Peter Brierley, and his wife, Cherry.

In 1994, Dr Brierley received a letter from a Kenyan pastor, of whom he had never heard, living in Kisumu. He sent £5 to the pastor and his family, who explained in reply that he was looking after three orphaned children of relatives, as well as his own three children. Dr Brierley sent a further £10, and, after fund-raising from friends and family, an orphanage was established in the town, and the Kisumu Children Trust was founded.

Dr Brierley said on Saturday: “I’m so pleased we’ve hit water. . . With it, we hope eventually to provide a daily lunch for every child at the school using ingredients grown and cooked by the local relatives or guardians. This means their children will be keener to attend, and be more able to learn each day, meaning higher grades and a greater chance to win a place at secondary school — sadly, not yet automatic, nor at present free in Kenya as it is in the UK.”