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CURRENT & PAST
PROJECTS

Delhi Global Grant Number 2

A two year project commencing late in 2018

Following the successes of our first Global Grant project with our partners in Rotary District 3012 (Delhi and Greater Noida), we are currently preparing for a second Global Grant project with the same partner. This will be a comprehensive WASH in Schools program across some 15 schools.

In addition to construction and renovation of toilets and hand washing stations, we will partner with World Vision again to roll out an 18 month comprehensive WASH Education program ensuring that these schools are well prepared for the wellbeing of all their students both now and in the future. The estimated budget for this project is US$150,000. Fundraising is already well underway.

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Shurmo Ethiopia Global Grant

A project commencing in the first half of 2019

This exciting project in Ethiopia in partnership with International Needs Australia (INA) follows on from our pilot project complete last year. In that project we provided for the sanitation and hygiene needs in two small schools changing the lives of some 600 students.

This new project is much more ambitious. It will be rolled out across six small communities or kebeles as they are known in Ethiopia. Around 6,500 students in eight schools will benefit from the program. The project will extend beyond the schools and into the surrounding communities through a Community-led Total Sanitation & Hygiene (CLTSH) approach, ultimately impacting on the lives of some 30,000 people in these communities.

Our first task here, in conjunction with INA will be to carry out a Community Needs Assessment later in 2018. The estimated budget for this project, including the Community Needs Assessment is US$110,000. Fund raising is already underway.

CONTRASTING EXPERIENCES

A visit to the current toilet facilities is a truly horrible experience as you can see from the video if you scroll down half a page. Operation Toilets Project Manager Mark Balla tells us that he spent a couple of minutes walking through the girls' toilet block filming what you see in this video. The stench, as he describes it, stayed in his nose for hours.

At Operation Toilets we find it unacceptable that children should be subjected to this experience. None of us would accept it for our children or grand children and we do not believe that parents in poorer countries should have to accept it either.

Now compare this video with the video to the right showing the hauntingly beautiful daily school assembly. Be sure to turn the volume up for this one. Sorry about the background conversation but you'll get the idea.

School Children Singing

School Children Singing

Watch Now

Old School Toilets

Old School Toilets

Watch Now

WHAT WE CAN DO

The headmaster at Vidya Prashala has been looking for someone to help him solve this terrible problem ever since he took on the role a the school.

When we visited the school with our friends at the Rotary Club of Nasik Road we knew right away that we needed to step up and offer our assistance.

Operation Toilets Project Manager Mark Balla will visit the school in September 2018 for the project commencement. We will be building 40 toilet cubicles/urinals, with the provision for an on-going maintenance fund and support for a comprehensive student hygiene education program

Dudhodi School

Project due for completion in September 2018

When we first visited the school in the village of Dudhodi around 100km east of the city of Pune it had 187 students (95 boys and 92 girls). Although it had a toilet block it was for all intents and purposes non functional as it had been built at a time when maintenance and cleaning were simply not on the radar.

In partnership with the Rotary Club of Chadstone East Malvern in our neighbouring district 9800, we agree to support our new partners in India, the Rotary Club of Poona in a project to build new toilets and start a WASH Education program in the school.

As this was the first time we had worked with the Rotary Club of Poona we felt it was important to do a small pilot project with them before taking on a large scale Global Grant. Although the school is very small, the photo you see here shows that it is very well cared for and it is certainly one of the most beautiful small schools we have visited on our trips to India.

The design allowed for four cubicles for girls and female teachers which about half a toilet more than the school currently needs. This number of toilets allows for an additional 22 girls to enrol before we meet our ideal toilet to student ratio. The design also allows for two cubicles and four urinals for boys and male teachers. The number is appropriate for current student numbers with room for some growth.

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Nasik Road Global Grant

Project completed in March 2017

This global grant was used to construct toilets in seven schools and a rural community of 35 houses to help reduce the school drop out rate and absentee rate among adolescent girls attending the schools.

Another objective was to provide a structured introduction to WASH Education for the children in the seven schools. The rural community would benefit by the increased security offered to their female family members who are currently at risk every time they have to attend the call of nature in the open. Another objective would be to reduce the hazards of open defecation and improve the overall hygiene of the village.

4374 students were direct beneficiaries of the school component of the project in the first year. over the life of the toilets estimated at 10 to 15 years, some 15,000 to 20,000 children will benefit from this improvement to their schools.

The total value of this Global Grant project was in excess of A$120,000

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