Accessible Toilet for Tochi School

The boy in the picture featured on this GoFundMe campaign is Ivan Olanya. He is 14 years old and goes to Tochi primary school in Gulu, Uganda. He is a bright kid and gets excellent grades, but he faces bulllying from other students on a daily basis. These students are jealous of Ivan's grades and pick on him for his disability. You see, Ivan survived Polio but the muscles in his legs suffered damage as a result of the disease.
Bullies at Tochi even went so far as to smear feces on the handrails of the school's only "accessible" toilet in an effort to force Ivan to drop out. Ivan's story is just one example of the daily struggle that students with a disability have to go through just so they can get an education. Other cases include children in wheelchairs having to crawl on their hands and knees into the latrine because it is too narrow for their wheelchairs.

Take a look at what the typical "accessible" public toilet is like in Gulu and imagine Ivan's struggle to use this facility in spite of the discrimination he faces.
I think you will agree that this should not be called an "accessible" toilet. Could you use this facility everyday? Could you imagine how incredibly difficult that would be without the use of your legs?

In Uganda, people wiith disabilities are routinely marginalized by society. This is a very serious problem because approximately 14% of the population in Northern Uganda is a person living with a disability. I am a Peace Fellow for The Advocacy Project , a US based non-profit that has partnered with the Gulu Disabled Person's Union (GDPU) , a community based organization, to help improve the living conditions of students with disabilities.
My work focuses on Gulu because this town has one of the highest levels of disability in the country. My goal is to help GDPU with their mission to bring accessible water and sanitation facilities to schools in the area. However, this GoFundMe campaign aims to raise money for just one project: to install an accessible latrine and hand-washing facility at the Tochi primary school and to create an anti-bullying program that will focus on building a nurturing environment for students living with a disability.

It goes without saying that children like Ivan deserve an education, but many are discouraged from attending primary school by the sheer effort of going to the bathroom and the bullying they face everyday. The Head Teacher at Tochi, Christine Aloya Foyla, is deeply troubled by the number of students with a disability that have dropped out. GDPU estimates that more than half of children with disabilities are not attending school.These children are intelligent and could have a very bright future, but they are made to feel incapable, inept, lazy, dependent, slow, or even worthless by their peers and by members of the community.

This is an outrage. It is not right, and it is a serious violation of Ugandan law and international laws. Give a S#!t about toilets in Gulu, Uganda. Help me make a  difference. Don't just nod your head and agree that this is a good cause, take action now! 
This is your opportunity to invest a small sum of money into the tangible improvement of a child's life. You can also help by raising awareness of this problem and spreading this message to everyone you know. I'll be posting updates on my blog so you can see how your efforts helped change the lives of students with a disability in Gulu.

Invest now. Spread the word. You won't regret it.