Footsteps Spring 2018 Footsteps-Spring2018 | Page 6

Toilets
The Problem: Children Suffer and Fall Behind Without Clean
Water and Toilets
Would you go to school every day knowing you were going to suffer or be
unsafe? Dehydrating themselves so they don’t need to use the bathroom,
“holding it” for hours, using rancid facilities, or defecating in the open are all
dangerous, unhealthy behaviors forced on schoolchildren in rural Central Asia
when bathrooms and clean water aren’t available.
To prevent this, parents often pull their children from school, especially
adolescent girls. Some children return, but many dropout for good. Those
who stick it out, often get sick. Every day, 2,200 children around the world
die from diarrheal diseases; 835 million preschool and primary school-age
children risk infection by intestinal parasites; and hundreds-of-thousands of
children struggle with other illnesses linked to poor sanitation, like urinary-
tract infections, constipation, and dehydration.
The Solution: Toilets and Clean Water for the Neediest Schools
Clean water and proper toilets can keep girls and boys out of hospital beds
and in school where they belong. With our help, CAI is trying to make a dent
in the thousands of schools without proper facilities.
In Baltistan, Pakistan, for example, five schools urgently need washrooms
and freshwater this year.
“These five schools have been selected for construction of washrooms as
need was very high. Students were suffering a lot, especially girl students,”
said Zameer Ahmad, the senior program manager in charge of the project.
Awful, unsanitary conditions put the 774 students, 80% of whom are girls, in
serious danger. Washrooms with tile floors and walls, water for cleaning and
drinking, and privacy for girls and boys, could make all the difference.
Your Part:
Here is your chance to help. Your donation could mean the difference be-
tween a child staying in school, or dropping out because they are too sick.
Below is the average breakdown in costs for building a clean washroom in
schools for each country.*
Afghanistan: $4,700
Pakistan: $2,060
Tajikistan: $3,250
* Prices vary depending on size, location, cost of local materials and labor, and transportation costs.
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CENTRAL ASIA INSTITUTE