Build: New Latrine at Health Clinic

My name is Kateri and I am a volunteer here in Tanzania. My service here is coming to an end, but the few months left are enough time to do a much-needed project: building a new latrine at the health clinic at my site.

(Health clinic)

The health clinic in my village serves several thousand residents of all four subvillages, as well as residents of two or three other villages nearby that do not have their own health clinics. Most women give birth there (they are fined if they give birth at home), and several hundred women come to the health clinic every month for baby-weighing and vaccination days. The doctor, two nurses, and one medical student take care of all sick and injured patients that come in every day.

(Nutrition lesson with mamas at health clinic)

The current latrine at the health clinic, with two stalls, is falling apart. Earlier this year a tree that fell during a storm ruined one wall of the latrine, which has temporarily been filled in with stacked cinder blocks. The latrine has no sink or handwashing station, and has dirt floors and no proper doors.

(Current latrine at health clinic)

(Inside the latrine)

With a budget of $2,000, a proper latrine with four stalls and two sinks for handwashing can be built, with concrete floors for cleanliness. The community will contribute to the project by donating manpower, including digging the latrine pit and hauling sand and water for construction.

Hopefully by the end of this month (November 2016), we will have reached our fundraising goal of $2,000 and can start building, with a goal of finishing the latrine by the end of January 2017.

The health clinic staff, the women who give birth at the clinic, and all other patients who pass through the clinic will benefit from a new, cleaner latrine and a place to wash their hands. A sanitary environment is crucial, not only to prevent the spread of disease, but also for human dignity itself.

Tunashukuru sana - we are very grateful!

Asanteni! Thank you all!