This project has been completed under the direction of Peace Corps Volunteer Jenny Boyd.
To read about the beginning of the project, CLICK HERE.
The project was a model project to install the first flushing toilet and septic tank system in Bahía Honda.
Jenny reports:
Members of the Castillos homestead proudly flush the first proper toilet of the indigenous Ngobe community in Bahia Honda. With the funds donated by the Andando Foundation, via Appropriate Projects, this homestead of 19 residents successfully installed an underground septic tank and built a small bathroom to house a flushing toilet.
Family members bought all the materials on the mainland and brought them by boat to their homestead on Bastimentos Island. One resident with construction experience led the process of digging a hole, installing the septic tank, connecting it to the toilet, and building a simple structure to house it.
The bathroom provides the homestead with a clean, private alternative to using the mangrove or nearby streams and wooded areas, as they used to do. This will lessen the environmental damage inflicted on the bay and improve the health and sanitation of its residents. This first bathroom serves as a motivating model to the rest of the community, and plans are already underway to build six more.
We are grateful to Jenny for completing this project, and again wish to thank The Andando Foundation for providing the funding.
