Is It A No. 1 Or A No. 2?

….nope it’s number 3!!

As part of our holistic approach to the communities we work in we are looking at the sanitation levels not only in the school, but also the wider community of Nabigyo. The toilets that the majority of the community use are pit latrines which are holes dug into the ground with a couple of wooden boards either side. Approximately 40-80 people could use this one hole!! So when they get full, they are covered over and a new one is dug. They look something a bit like this…

As you can imagine, this attracts mosquitoes and therefore increases the chance of getting Malaria. It also creates a massive hazard for small children who can fall in. Often the wood used to cover them over will rot which again creates a ‘trap’ for little children. Then there are the obvious sanitation issues of keeping the area clean!

The solution was suggested by Philip who had been developing the idea of a community toilet.

The hole is dug down as far as the water table will allow and then lined with bricks and cement. The toilet and wash area are then built above this, again from bricks and cement and then a roof is put on top. This creates a permanent structure which can be emptied and to which chemicals can be added to kill the bacteria and mosquito larvae.

Through our supporters in the UK we have been able to fund the building of the first two community toilets in Nabigyo. It may not look much to us, but it has changed the lives of the people who are now using them.

Last month (October 2011) we sent out the money for work to begin on the 3rd toilet!!

So, forgive the pun, but we’ve done our number one and our number two!!