The level of hygiene in most schools in Burundi is alarming. Many schools lack water, and the toilets, when available, are often in very poor conditions. The hygiene conditions, or lack thereof, increase the risks of dirty-hands diseases and other forms of infections. Furthermore, female students have no adequate environments to live their periods hygienically and in privacy, while at school. This (coupled with the lack of access to hygienic pads) has an impact on their school attendance and hence, their grades. This is because they prefer to stay at home instead of going to school, when on their periods. A study conducted by the UNICEF in Burundi in 2016 discovered that 70.2% of female students do not go to school when they are on their periods.

The “ishure y’inyenyeri” (“star school”, in Kirundi) program aims to help schools improve their hygiene conditions, by rating the available facilities and programs. Our rating system consists of 3 stars, attributed considering:

• The availability and condition of WASH infrastructure.

• The availability of drinking water for students.

• The availability of functioning and clean toilets separate for boys and girls.

• Existence and frequency of supervised group hand washing sessions with soap, usually before school lunch.

• Existence and frequency of supervised toilet cleaning sessions with supply of soap and water.

• Existence and frequency of Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights and Menstrual Hygiene Management training and information sessions.

We then help administrators and students improve their schools’ ratings by:

• Reaching out to partner organizations that can provide lacking water sanitation and hygiene (WASH) infrastructure. Currently, ZOA Burundi builds toilets and Think East Africa provides clean water solutions.

• Providing Sexual and Reproductive Health and Rights training and information sessions as well as reusable and washable sanitary pads to vulnerable students, as part of our “Agateka kwishure” initiative.

We believe that our unique star system is an innovative, fun and very effective way to keep local communities, school administrators, officials, partners and other stakeholders informed on the conditions in schools, and on the importance of hygiene for the well being of students, school staff and neighbouring communities. On the other hand, we also use it as tool to evaluate our progress and the impact of our work.