Initially our focus was ensuring each school had a well. We now find that most schools have a well however two wells have been installed in the past financial year.  The next phase has been to ensure water can be piped to the toilets. This involves a tank and stand, electric or diesel pump and the associated pipes plumbed between the well, tank and stand and toilet troughs and hand basins. Prior to COVID we had also started to install hand washing basins attached to the sides of the toilet blocks. 

 

The project team met in Kampong Thom in January 2023 (for the first time since the COVID pandemic). The aim was to establish a repair and maintenance programme thereby consolidating our existing infrastructure and relationships with schools. We visited 31 schools 13 of which are new to the running water project. There remain 16 schools to revisit for inclusion in the maintenance and repair programme. They will be visited before the end of this year.

 

In addition to the repair and maintenance programme we are expanding our work to include the installation of urinals and a dedicated menstrual health management (MHM) toilet cubicle in each school. 

 

Urinals

By installing urinals the demand for toilets is reduced thereby allowing females greater access. This is a relatively simple solution for many schools. In consultation with principals the project team considered cultural nuance to include a vanity screen between each urinal in the design. The cost of the block of three urinals in the image is approx. $500USD.  

 

 

Installation of urinals in progress. One urinal is set lower for younger primary aged students. They are attached to existing toilet blocks. May 2023

 

 

Menstrual Health Management (MHM) 

The purpose of MHM in schools is to increase the attendance of women and girls and thereby increase the educational standard. The management of menstruation in schools needs to be addressed. Only one school we visited had a toilet set up for girls and women to deal with menstruation in a safe and private place. We are installing a MHM toilet kit in each school to allow for female teachers and students to deal with menstruation at school. More than one toilet may be set up dependent upon the size of the school population. This is often the disabled toilet. Disabled toilets usually have a door opening outwards allowing more space for a sink in the toilet room. And disabled toilets are generally not utilised due to social stigma. 

 

MHM Kit

Each kit contains the following:

Bucket with lid, toilet brush, scoop for water trough, soap holder and soap

Lock on the inside of the door

Toilet draining to septic tank

Hand basin and pipes connected to running water

Trough (not leaking) and pipes connected to running water

 

The cost of this kit is approx. $80USD. In addition, running water project is producing a video to show females how to use the MHM toilet in their school. It will be uploaded to YouTube as open access. The funding for this video was donated by Teachers Across Borders Australia Inc.

 

Materials for an MHM kit. Jan 2023

 

The project team established a ranking system to prioritise schools.

 

1. Tank and stand and water connection to toilets (the number of schools requiring a tank, stand and pipes is decreasing) We have plumbed and installed 28 tanks and stands at a cost of $1100USD each. 

2. Toilet/urinal ratio – We establish each school’s toilet ratio. 

3. Toilet Hand washing – this is an inexpensive addition to any project at $35 for equipment

4. Motivation of teachers and community (rate 1-5 where 1 = hardest)

5. Ease of repair (rate 1-5 where 1 = hardest)

 

 

Each stand is made locally and the tanks are imported from China as there is no plastic extrusion industry in Cambodia

 

Hand basins are installed on the outside of the toilet block