Holy Rosary Primary School for Girls, Pujehun Town

This school, like many others, suffered greatly during the civil war (1991-2002); school equipment was lost, buildings were damaged and garden crops and plants stolen. But the dedicated staff still manage to provide a good standard of education for the pupils.

Most of the girls are day pupils from the local community, but there are some boarders, as they come from distant villages. Their accommodation is very basic, with school sanitation facilities that are awful – they have no privacy, and no washing facilities. But this situation is now changing!

We are constructing a new ecosan toilet, similar in design to one recently completed at the nearby Pujehun Community School. As can be seen from the photos below, the design will include three individual ecosan “pods”, which are accessed from inside the unit, offering complete privacy for the girls.

The water for washing will be gravity-fed from a raised tank that will be located to the side of the toilet, supply coming from a well that has been sunk next to the ecosan, pumped by a portable generator that will be shared with Holy Rosary Secondary School.

There is a great deal that still needs to be done at the school, but by providing this ecosan and washing facility the risk of intestinal illness will be greatly reduced, thus ensuring pupils will not have their education disrupted. Perhaps as important, the use of a clean sanitation unit will restore dignity and self confidence to all the pupils and staff, thus generating a greater opportunity for educational success.