One-hundred-and-seventy students in a small elementary school in Central Bougainville now have access to proper hand washing stations and toilet.
They also have the privilege to learn about the importance of water sanitation and hygiene.
Teacher-in-charge of Br. Felix Koniana Elementary School, Rehab Taiaka, was delighted when her school received two handwashing stations and a new ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrine.
In November last year, the AHP-IV WaSH baseline assessment for elementary schools in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (ARoB) was conducted by Save the Children and found that Br. Felix Koniana Elementary was one of those schools in ARoB that had no WaSH facilities at all.
The Save the Children team in ARoB then worked together with the schoolteachers and board of management and installed the WaSH facilities as well as supplied WaSH consumables in March this year.
Having served at this school for about seven years, Mrs Taiaka acknowledges that students and teachers used bushes and the river nearby when they needed to use the toilet or wash their hands.
Mrs Taiaka said: “I am very impressed because these facilities will also equip my students to know the value of Water, Sanitation and Hygiene at the elementary level.”
“I will be supportive to this approach because I see it’s very important to create Water, Sanitation and Hygiene environment to keep the students informed, well and healthy.”
Children from five different villages within Central Bougainville attend Br. Felix Koniana Elementary School, which is a 1-hour-and-50-minute drive from Arawa town.
This project is supported by the Australian Humanitarian Partnership under the COVID-19 response.