Secondary School Bathroom and Water Project – Tanzania

This project is made possible through the partnership of WATER CHARITY and the NATIONAL PEACE CORPS ASSOCIATION.

Location
This project summary has been redacted for security reasons to omit the specific project location.

 Xxxxxxxxx Secondary School, Lushoto, Tanga, Tanzania

Community Description
Xxxxxxxxx Secondary School was one of the first government schools in the Lushoto district, established in 1988 in the village of Dochi/Vuri, Tanzania. The school began with just over 600 students and currently, there are more than 1,000 students.

The school has Forms I through Form IV, which are equivalent to high school in the United States. Student ages range from 12 to 19 years. Form I through Form IV are day students who arrive at 7:00 am and return home at 3:30 pm. The curriculum is very similar to the high school curriculum in the United States. The average time for a student walking to school is 35 minutes. However, some students walk an hour to school.

In addition to the Forms I through IV, there are Forms V and VI, which consists of male residential students. The ages range from 19 to 22 and they take advanced studies in Kiswahili, history, geography, and English to prepare for continued studies at the university.

The main source of income for the community is through small businesses and agriculture; many small farms are terraced along the mountainsides. The people in the area are friendly and always willing to help. “Karibu,” meaning “welcome,” is the common greeting and is regularly heard.

Problem Addressed
Due to the age and condition of the current facilities, and the ever-increasing class sizes the toilets no longer adequately serve students. The lack of water supply and the physical deterioration of the facilities are major concerns. The nearest source of water is 1/4 mile from the toilet. A large incoming class of 247 Form I students, and the projected trend of large incoming class sizes have placed additional strain on the current facility.

Some of the issues that students mention during discussions are urinary tract infections, odor, privacy, safety, and lack of handwashing stations. In one small discussion group of 4 Form III girls, 16 to 17 years old, all had at least a urinary tract infection in the past and one had three occurrences of such a problem. Health, sanitation, and privacy for the girls are major concerns.

Project Description
New toilet facilities will be constructed on the school grounds, near the classrooms. A tank, piping, and handwashing facilities will be added.

The project is divided into 3 phases:

Phase 1: Demolition of the boy’s toilet and delivery of materials (7 days)

Phase 2: Building construction, plumbing and installation of the 1.000-liter water tank and plumbing (14 days)

Phase 3: Finish interior, install handwashing stations, and demolition of the girl’s toilet (12 days)

The water tank will be placed on a raised platform. The water tank will be filled using gravity since the source of the water is higher in the mountains. During construction, the boys will have access to the toilet used by male residential students and the girls will continue to use the current lavatory. Upon completion of the project, the girl’s lavatory will be removed.

During the construction, skilled labor will be used for brickwork, tiling, plumbing, and cement work. The bricks will be made on school grounds using community labor and carried to the construction site by community members. Lumber for roofing and door framing will be done by the school carpenter and the community will contribute to the construction of the doors for the toilet and stalls.

Water Charity funds will be used for the roofing material, skilled labor, the water tank, foundation stone, sand, cement, plumbing, paint, hand washing stations, and transportation of material from the demolition of the old facility.

The completed toilet will have 20 stalls, each with doors, 10 for each gender, an entry door to the toilet, and 5 handwashing stations for each gender. A water tap will be in both facilities that will be used to fill buckets for flushing the toilets and cleaning the facility.

Mr. Wetundwa, Shambalai Secondary School Head Master, will be at the site on a daily basis overseeing the project. He will report to the Project Committee composed of school board members, the school headmaster, and the PCV, regarding the progress of the construction.

Project Impact
1,000 people will benefit from the project.

Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
J. Krakowiak

Monitoring and Maintenance
The new toilet will be monitored daily by school staff and irregularities will be reported to the Head Master. Normal maintenance will be performed by the school staff. Funding that is provided to each government school by the government of Tanzania will be used for maintenance beyond the normal cleaning of the new facility.

Fundraising Target
$3,600

Funds raised in excess of the project amount will be allocated to other projects in Tanzania.

Donations Collected to Date
$0

ADOPT THIS PROJECT IN TANZANIA BY CONTRIBUTING THE DOLLAR AMOUNT OF THE PROJECT

Donations of any amount will be appreciated. The full amount will give you “naming rights”, if that is something you would like.

Dollar Amount Needed
$3,600