World Toilet Day is November 19th! This month we are celebrating our sanitation initiatives! So far, A Spring of Hope has installed Enviro Loos at twenty-one of our partner schools. We have hosted several workshops and sanitation event to help encourage and educate our schools on their new toilets. Enviro Loos are waterless toilets that breakdown waste naturally, with this our schools can continue to conserve water while still providing a sanitary and safe place for students and faculty to relieve themselves. We hope to install Enviro Loos at all of our partner schools as they are instrumental in improving the health of its students.

Roughly 11,450 schools in South Africa still rely on pit latrines. Pit latrines are unsafe and unsanitary. When we first visit our partner schools we too often find their toilets are in extremely poor conditions. Pit latrines are overflowing and the amount of toilets are insufficient for the number of students attending the schools. The inefficiency of these toilets interupt school time as long lines during breaks keep students away from activities and makes them late to classes.

The health of students at these schools are poor due to the absence of hand washing stations. When speaking with students and faculty we have also learned that female students at primary and secondary schools feel unsafe and uncomfortable during their periods due to the poor conditions of the pit latrines toilets. By installing Enviro Loos we hope to create a safe and comfortable environment for all students.

When A Spring of Hope builds new sanitation facilities at our partner schools, we ensure to install an appropriate amount of toilets and handwashing basins for the number of students enrolled at the schools. Our goal is to create a long lasting facility that will improve the overall health of the school. We are excited to move forward with our sanitation initiative as we believe in providing schools with the necessary resources they need to see their students’ succeed. Help us to continue to invest in the futures of these students by celebrating World Toilet Day with us at www.aspringofhope.org.