Provide Sanitary Bathrooms for Tsaayo Secondary Students

Keep Tsaayo Secondary School open

The Tsaayo Secondary School was under threat of closure from the government for unsafe sanitary conditions. This would have been a tragedy for the 421 students studying there and dash their hopes for high school or beyond. The bathrooms were constructed over large holes for waste storage and the students’ bathrooms had to be closed because they were overflowing!

As a stop gap measure, students are sharing the two stall bathroom designated for the teachers. They must wait so long for the bathroom that the school had to extend break times to accommodate the long waits. Hand washing stations are also insufficient further discouraging proper hygiene and student safety.

The Arri Ward strategic planning committee agreed to increase the priority for this project so Karimu is building new bathrooms for the school. The community has committed to contributing over 11% of the total cost. Karimu is providing the rest.

The site plan includes new boys’, girls’, and teachers’ bathrooms with indoor and outdoor sinks and a sewage treatment system. The bathrooms include urinals (for boys), flushable squat toilets, flushable sit toilets, facilities for menstruating girls (laundry and incinerator), and sinks with mirrors.

As with all Karimu bathroom projects the school must agree to clean and maintain the bathrooms, supply hand soap and menstrual pads, and provide hygiene training annually for all students.

The project completed beautifully.

Benefits:

• Reduced sanitation related diseases

• Improved school attendance

• Improved performance on national exam

• Increase in school retention rate for girls

Cost:

• Karimu - $65,779

• Community - $8,270