EVENT: Celebration of new Toilets at Mampondo Primary School, Sicwenza Location, Flagstaff, Eastern Cape.
Mampondo Primary School is situated an hour and a half drive from Flagstaff, high atop a hill in a beautiful rural area in the Sicwenza location. As we drove up to the school, we were swarmed by children greeting us with smiling faces and full of energy. All in their uniforms, they looked very scholarly and I was looking forward to watching them perform some dances and singing for us and to hear from the dignitaries who were joining the day.
The reason for this celebration was due to the installation of new, safe, hygienic toilets for the children and teachers at the school. We had been called to action, after reading an article in Ground Up, which was posted about two children who had fallen into the pit latrines earlier this year. Luckily, these 2 children were saved, but we know that other children have not been so lucky and have died from drowning in sewerage, in these death traps at schools, which have not yet been upgraded.
Our partnership with Amalooloo is essential. Amalooloo have been working in the Sanitation industry for over 30 years and have created Toilets which are specifically developed for rural areas or where there is no consistent water supply. The model, which separates solid and liquid waste at source, provides freedom from septic tanks and centralized sewers, preventing faecal sludge from being created, which is incredibly difficult to dispose of.
The afternoon was filled with many speeches from those representing the Community, the School, the School Governing Board (SGB), SADTU and the Department of Education who thanked SOS and Amalooloo for reacting so swiftly and installing 12 new cubicles in less than a month.
The installation was largely funded by Concor Construction, who are currently involved with the Msikaba River Bridge Project, which will become the biggest bridge in South Africa. They kindly assisted us when they heard about the pit latrine incidents and offered to fund the infrastructure.
Special thanks to Lumar Fourie, Director of Amalooloo for partnering with us on the Pitstop! EradicaTour project and to Stephan Strydom the Project Manager on the Mampondo school installation. Collaboration between Government, NGO’s and private organization is vital to reach schools and communities that still have unsafe pit latrines and unsafe hygiene as soon as humanely possible. A collaborated effort can prevent any more dangerous toilet incidents, transmission of diseases and bring safety, hygiene and dignity to those who currently lack it.
Let us all work together to Harvest Hope in our Communities.
Shelley Humphreys
Chief Executive Director
SOS NPO
CERTIFIED PARTNER OF UNESCO IHP
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