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Better loos for Lui School

November 18th, 2020

Toilets are more than just pipes and porcelain. Girls like Regina understand that more than most, as she’s spent much of her life without having access to one.


Regina Sepiso outside new girls toilets at Lui School, Zambia

I came to Lui School in 2015 when I was grade 4. The school I was coming from had better sanitation and water facilities than here. 

For years Lui School has provided thousands of children with an education but limited funds and lack of support from the government has meant there is no clean water to drink or suitable toilets to use. Around 970 pupils at Lui were sharing just two toilets – one for girls and one for boys. Over-use meant they were dirty so many children would prefer to go in the nearby bushes. 

Everything changed when Village Water came to our school. They upgraded our borehole to a solar powered water system and constructed two toilet blocks with showers. This changed our life as girls and our schoolwork became easy. 

A private toilet, combined with clean water and good hygiene has the power to improve not just Regina’s health, but her whole school experience, which ultimately can influence what she does in the future. With clean water readily available she never goes thirsty and can wash her hands. A private toilet and shower room means she has all the facilities available to her to manage her period in privacy and comfort and attend class instead of staying at home.

A few weeks from now Regina will be sitting her exams to graduate into the next year. Normally school would have resumed but with the threat of COVID, she and her fellow exam-takers will be the only ones there to ensure they can use classrooms and bathrooms whilst safely social distancing.

 I am grateful because our school is one of the few which is privileged to have its hygiene and sanitation improved to a level where girl pupils never feel to be out of place when they are at school. I thank all Village Water supporters for their acts of kindness. 

So what DO toilets do?

  • Toilets, combined with clean water and good hygiene, form a strong defence against COVID-19 and future disease outbreaks
  • Sustainable sanitation safely processes bodily waste. If untreated it gets out into the environment and spreads deadly and chronic disease
  • Wastewater and sludge from toilets contain valuable water, nutrients and energy. Sustainable sanitation systems make productive use of water to safely boost agriculture and reduce and capture emissions for greener energy

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