This project has been completed under the direction of Peace Corps Volunteer Susan Burkhart.
To read about the beginning of the project, CLICK HERE.
The project was to bring water to the students’ bathroom and provide sinks. In its implementation, much more was accomplished.
Susan reports:
The Ilia Chavchavadze Public School Number 1 sink project has been successfully completed, and the students are thrilled!
Each bathroom (girls and boys) has three bathroom stalls with squatter toilets. Before this project, there wasn’t any water in the bathrooms, which meant students were not able to flush after using the bathroom. The bathrooms were extremely unsanitary and students often refused to use them. Now, each toilet has its own working water tank that allows the students to flush the toilets in their bathrooms.
During the first week of the project, school staff purchased all of the items locally. Thanks to a very generous store owner who offered deeply discounted prices, they were not only able to purchase the piping and two sinks, but six water tanks as well!
During the second week, a local laborer who is also the father of a student was hired to install the sinks and water tanks for the toilets. The actual installation and work only took two days. The laborer was easily able to connect the new pipes to the existing one, and redirect the water to the students’ bathroom in the schoolyard. He then installed flushers for each of the toilets and the two sinks.
The school administrators said that having running water for the toilets will improve sanitation conditions in the school, and the sinks will reduce the amount of germs and diseases spread by the students.
The school director said, “Thank you very, very much! We are very grateful for the money we were given to complete this project. We also appreciate the work of Peace Corps Volunteers all over Georgia.”
Thank you so much for your generosity and support of Peace Corps Volunteers all over the world!
We, in turn, extend our thanks to Susan for completing this project, and again express our gratitude to Susan’s friends and family, and especially Wilco Krul and Joe Randall, for providing the funding for this project as well as future work in Georgia.
