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A group of young volunteers from Platform2, a UK government-funded volunteer scheme for 18-25 year olds from disadvantaged backgrounds, build toilets for a nursery school in Peru
Visit the Platform 2 site to find out more about the project.
Platform2 / Farzaan Patel
Today is World Toilet Day. According to
the United Nations, more than five
million children die every year of
sanitation-related diseases such as
diarrhoea. This is because local water
supplies become contaminated where there
is little or no access to decent
sanitation facilities like toilets and
wash basins.
REF:
Platform2
This toilet belonged to a nursery school
in Pachacutec, a shanty town in Peru,
before it was transformed this summer by
a group of young volunteers from
Platform 2 (see above), a free
government-funded volunteer scheme for
18- 25 year olds with disadvantaged
backgrounds. The toilet had no flush
and the wooden-cover helped to contain
the stench.
REF:
Platform2 / Farzaan Patel
The ten volunteers, all from the UK,
spent ten weeks building a new toilet
block for the nursery school, as well as
teaching at a local community centre.
After digging a pit 5ft deep, the
volunteers cement the base and use
bricks to build the silo which will
store the new toilets' waste for up to
two years.
REF:
Platform2 / Farzaan Patel
Children from the nursery school play
around the bricks while the building
work takes place. Their teacher
regularly brings them to check on the
volunteers' progress. The new toilet
block will help them to understand the
importance of hygiene and washing their
hands to prevent diseases.
REF:
Platform2 / Farzaan Patel
Week nine and the volunteers start to
paint the outhouse they have constructed
around the toilets. Unlike the old
toilet facilities which had no roof,
this building will provide the children
with shelter, keeping them warm and dry.
REF:
Platform2 / Farzaan Patel
The new toilet block has three toilets,
three wash basins and a urinal. Although
the silo will need to be replaced after
two years, the new building will last
much longer.
Volunteer Aniqah Adamjee, 22, said: "The
conditions they had were horrific. Our
work will provide a hygienic future for
these kids who have so much energy and
yet so little resources."
REF:
Platform2
Germs and disease are prevalent in
nurseries and schools, particularly in
areas of poor sanitation where access to
hygiene facilities is limited. For many
of the children at this nursery, the new
block will be the first time they have
had access to separate toilet cubicles
and cleaning facilities.
REF:
[ Any views expressed in this article are those of the writer and not of Reuters. ]
