Location
Khotyn, Chernivetska Oblast, Ukraine
Community Description
Khotyn is the town of 11,000 population on the Dniester River in Chernivetska Oblast, southwest Ukraine. It serves as the rayon (county) center for over 30 villages, with a combined population of 70,000.
Khotyn has a rich cultural history in painting, ceramics, woodworking, weaving, song, and dance. The 50-year-old rayon-supported Khotyn Art School is one of three cultural schools that educates the area’s young people and perpetuates the tradition of having a strong creative culture.
Art classes are not provided in the academic schools, so pupils who want to pursue their artistic interests and talents must attend an afternoon or evening class at the art school. Children ages 6 – 15 from Khotyn and the rayon villages attend classes in painting, sculpture, and drawing at the school, for which their families pay approximately $2.25 a month.
The school currently has a single outhouse, with a hole in the floor serving as the toilet, and no convenient hand washing sink. The outhouse is approximately 45 feet from the school door. There has never been an indoor toilet in the school building.
A winter trip to use the outhouse involves putting on a coat, gloves, and hat to brave the often -5 to -20 degree Fahrenheit weather. It also involves opening and closing the school building door at least twice, letting in the cold winter air. And then there is the process of actually using the outhouse in those temperatures.
Project Description
This project is to install two squat toilets and a sink in an existing storage area in the school.
Currently, the school is doing renovations, funded by the Khotyn Rayon Council, to install new heaters and floor coverings. During this renovation project, the school will install the toilets and sink in what is now a 12′ x 6′ storage room adjacent to a classroom.
The chosen location eliminates the need for new construction, and completing the toilet and sink project now takes advantage of the current availability of labor at the site.
Project funds will be used for the purchase and installation of the toilet pans, the sink, a soap dispenser, pipes, fittings and fixtures, and a sanitary line to either an on-site septic tank or to the town sewer line in the street. The latter depends on how much additional money can be raised from the students’ families and the Rayon Council.
Project Impact
The project will directly benefit the 118 students and 9 staff of the school. It will also positively affect the hundreds of town and rayon residents – family, friends, and supporters of the arts – who attend exhibits at the school throughout the year.
Peace Corps Volunteer Directing Project
Janet McLaughlin
Comments
This project sets a sanitation, hygiene and comfort standard for the community and the entire rayon by providing an indoor toilet and a convenient hand washing sink for use by all who participate in activities at the school.
Dollar Amount of Project
$500.00
Donations Collected to Date
$500.00 + additional amounts for future projects
Dollar Amount Needed
$0.00 – This project has now been fully funded through the generosity of Jeremiah Coughlan, of Kennewick, WA USA, with additional donations from friends and family of PCV Janet McLaughlin.
We encourage others to continue to donate using the Donate button below, and we will notify Janet of your donation. Additional funds will be used to fund the next project by this PCV and/or those of other PCVs in the country of service.
This project is hereby designated the “Coughlan Memorial Toilet” in honor of Jeremiah’s mother, funded by her children and husband.
This project has been finished. To read about the conclusion of the project, CLICK HERE.