- Lack of access to sanitation, including the practice of open defecation, costs the poorest countries 207 billion dollars each year. That’s almost double the amount the world gives in aid money to help low-income countries develop.
- Globally, 31% of schools do not have clean water and 34% lack adequate toilets.
- 980 million children worldwide do not have access to adequate toilets.
- The number one reason girls don’t go on to secondary education is that they do not have single sex latrines.
- Safe disposal of children’s faeces leads to a reduction of nearly 40% in diarrhoea.
- Inadequate sanitation can lead to a number of health problems, including stunted growth, diarrheal illness, and even death.
- Many girls who are enrolled in schools without latrines drop out of school as they approach their teenage years.
- Where there is nowhere safe to go to the toilet, people have to defecate in the open.
- Children’s faeces left lying around pose a severe health risk, particularly when they are close to the house where small children play. The health risks are increased where children do not understand the importance of good hygiene and have not been taught to wash their hands after defecation and before eating.
- When out searching for water or for somewhere to go to the toilet, children are exposed to the risk of attacks by wild animals and bites from snakes and insects.
- Children are the most vulnerable to diseases which result from dirty water and poor sanitation such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery. As well as being more likely to catch the diseases in the first place, children, especially those under five, are less likely to recover than adults.
Establishing sanitation facilities impacts schools as well as the wider community. Schools are able to recruit teachers better, especially in very rural areas. Female student attendance increases dramatically, especially as they get older. With the implementation of a hand washing station and lessons arranged around this, the health level of students increase. They become life long implementers of hygiene because have put it into practice since their childhood. Children are more open to discuss and change hygiene habits than adults whose behaviour has been ingrained over a lifetime.
The price of one block of two toilets is $2,500. In most schools we complete a block for the boys, another for the girls and one for the staff. We ensure that they have a privacy wall for child safety purposes, the teachers are able to monitor access to the latrines.
Latrines are made from stone or brick, coloured bonding iron (for the roof) and steel doors. Latrines are ventilated through a small window and roof piping.
Hygiene education is an essential part of the BeyondWater projects. While we hope long term to reach the adults in the community, our focus is on schools where we have built latrines. Once the latrines are there, we install a hand washing facility and give liquid hand soap. However, in addition to this we have a morning program with all students that teach the importance of washing hands after using the latrine. This is done through drama, games, art and song. Where possible we teach in small groups how to make the soap with locally available materials.
When available, we distribute underwear to the students as we have discovered that many do not even have one pair. This is because they are expensive for the needy families we work with and they are always thrilled when they get a new pair. Our education teams are made up of staff and volunteers from within Kenya who specialise working with young children.
A hygiene program ranges from $100 to $300 depending upon location.