ACCESS TO HYGIENE, RIGHT TO DIGNITY

Defecating in the open, isn't it humiliating?

In the remote villages of rural Uttarakhand, we have discovered that children regularly leave school in the middle of the day - for the trivial reason that they might need to use the toilet.

For the girl child, during her period, two other girls often accompany her to home in order to ensure safety. Parents also feel uncomfortable about their teenage daughters being exposed to the risk, and frequently choose to keep their daughters home during their menstrual cycles.

Indeed, lack of toilets is one of the top reasons for a girl child to drop out of school once she reaches her menstrual age. All this amounts to children loosing critical learning time in the most shaping stage of their lives.

A lack of proper toilet facility is a point of neglect in school infrastructure in this area. As a consequence, most children currently relieve themselves in the open and without proper sanitation facilities, these children also face a range of dangers including encountering poisonous snakes and all other kinds of insects.

This is the sad but reality for children in many of the schools in Pauri and Tehri districts of rural Uttarakhand.

Though the government of India has launched the Swachh Bharat Mission as a nation-wide campaign to eliminate open defecation in rural areas (launched in 2014), there is still a long way to go when it comes to the government schools in rural Uttarakhand. These schools rarely have sufficient funding to provide adequate and long-lasting sanitation facilities for the children.

National School Sanitation Manual recommends one toilets per 40 girls and a female staff/ one urinal per 20 girls and one toilet plus urinal for 80 boys and one male staff/ one urinal per 20 boys.

AITYS is committed to join hands and provide safe, clean and hygienic toilets in these schools so that no child has to ever miss precious learning time, which is so critical to shaping their future.

Estimate for building a toilet is around 7.5 lakhs INR which will include following:

• 3 wc with doors
• 2 wash basins
• 1 shower area with door
• 1 changing room with door
• Place to install 1 incinerator
• 1 cupboard to store sanitary napkins and other necessary items
• 2 water tanks
• Kota stone floor for easy wash and maintaining hygiene

AITYS is targeting to build at least 1 toilet for girls in each of the 20 schools it is working with.

Building better sanitation and toilet facilities mean an increased attendance for children, especially girls, in school.

We want to cultivate the sense of self respect in children, to learn the importance of hygiene and have an awareness about sanitation. Forming good hygiene practice from early childhood can have a positive effect on a child's growth and development. It will help them stay healthy, ward off illnesses, and build better self-awareness. It will also help inculcating the notion of respecting one’s surroundings and one’s sense of privacy.

Childhood is the best time to cultivate a sense of self respect and a sense of respect and consideration for others. Encouraging individuals and communities to adopt good sanitation and hygiene practices is one of the key factors for the development, and this endeavor will also help accelerate the efforts of India's Swachh Bharat Mission.