A Flush of Excitement

2018-11-29 - A Flush of Excite

Toilets may not be something that most people get excited about, but I was very excited to read the following in the Autumn Tear Times:
 

In Rukungiri Uganda, education is highly prized. Most families are banana farmers but recent harvests have been poor. ‘When I finish school, I want to become a nurse,’ says Bridget aged 14. Until recently teenage girls watched their ambitions wither when they started their period. 

Old toilets at the local primary school were virtually unusable, so teenage girls missed class a week each month – many left school altogether. Early marriage was a more realistic prospect than a medical career. ‘If we felt sick, we’d miss class and that would affect our performance in exams,’ says Bridget.

Bridget’s prospects were transformed by a new toilet block with girls changing rooms, [in my photo] built by a Tearfund partner. Within three months, 65 girls re-enrolled in class.’


I am pleased to hear that girls have been able to re-enrol in class anywhere, but I am especially pleased as this is the school where I was part of one of the teams assisting building the latrines in summer 2017.

November 19th is World Toilet day; highlighting the fact that 1.23 billion or 1 in 3 women and girls are without a safe, hygienic toilet. So I rejoice when I hear of the girls that have re-enrolled knowing the impact that each of the 65 girls will make in their community, when they become Nurses, Teachers or Health Workers. Building toilets is of vital in defeating poverty. 

Why not give a family the great gift this Christmas of a toilet by twinning your toilet with one in the developing world? For more information www.toilettwinning.org

Mandy McIntosh