Project Launch: 12-19-17

Lack of sanitation is one of the biggest issues affecting the health of children across Cambodia, particularly those who live in the countryside, and schools are a locus for the spread of disease. The basic need of latrines is often not fulfilled in the schools because the little funds schools do have are funneled into educational needs such as classroom supplies and desks. School grounds often become the site of open defecation from students; otherwise, pupils are forced to look elsewhere for a proper toilet. This causes a disruption in their studies in the middle of the school day or even in the middle of the school year if they become ill from exposure to this waste.

Three primary schools in the Khnach Romeas Commune, a rural community in Cambodia, possess latrines that are in disrepair, creating a health risk for the hundreds of students seeking the basic right of early education. This latrine project aims to make functional latrines easily available to a total of 442 students (250 female and 192 male) in the community. In addition, each latrine will have a small, built-in hand washing station to encourage hand washing after use. As these schools are already well equipped with enough water to maintain the sanitation of latrines, it will take the construction of just two latrines at each school to create a pathway for healthier schools and healthier children.