Thanks to WATSAN’s latest intervention, community members at a primary school, child development centre and church are better equipped with facilities and knowledge about how to take care of their health.
The Kinyasano Hill project area consists of three institutions: Kinyasano Boarding Primary School, Kinyasano Child Development Centre (CDC), and Emmanuel Cathedral-Kinyasano. Between April and June 2022, the WATSAN team have been focused on building effective toilet facilities for children and teaching staff, and implementing a huge awareness-raising exercise to get everyone on board with better hygiene practices.
Alongside the construction of two new toilet blocks, WATSAN’s software team carried out a live assessment of the sanitation challenges faced by school pupils, which formed the basis for tailored training and engagement sessions. For example, the team observed that school members were initially not concerned about littering the compound with used toilet paper or sanitary towels. Staff were encouraged to form a school health club to raise awareness of the implications of this, and encourage better-informed behaviours. Pupils were also taught how to wash their hands properly, and how often to wash themselves and their clothes, giving them the scientific background to fecal-oral routes to infection with common ailments such as diarrhea and dysentry.
The engagement process culminated in a commissioning ceremony for the sanitation blocks – a way of formally handing over the facilities to the local community and ensuring they feel responsible for their upkeep. This was attended by Bishop Patrick Tugume of North Kigenzi Diocese.
WATSAN Uganda 