Noritisetha Primary School

History of the school

The Noritisetha Primary School is located in Kandieng, Pursat Province. The school is 29 km from the centre of Pursat. Access to the school is via a dirt road – dust inhaled by the children during school hours. 59 pupils (26 girls) attend pre-school and 573 attend primary school. Of the 573 pupils, 270 are girls. Classes take place in the morning in four buildings. All four buildings are stable in terms of their structure.

Condition of the school before the renovation

Power supply

Available

Existing water resources and their use

A deep well with an electric pump is available. Unfortunately this well water is not suitable as drinking water. The water is acidic and has a high iron and manganese content. This rusty water is not only unsuitable for human consumption, but also damages the systems. At present, this rusty groundwater is collected in two concrete tanks with a capacity of 4,000 litres each and various rain barrels and used exclusively for the toilets and as cleaning water.

There are no hand washing stations at the school.

The drinking water has to be bought additionally. The pupils contribute 200 Riel each month to the costs for drinking water and electricity, which is mainly used for the electric well pump.

Condition of the latrines

Two toilet buildings with two toilets each are available. One toilet building was built by the government in 2008, a joke for about 600 students. Only eight years later a second toilet building was added by Unicef. Toilet buildings without access to water make little sense, of course. The rusty groundwater has severely clogged the buildings and the pipes, nothing works anymore.

Waste management

There are garbage cans in every classroom and there is no garbage on the floor. The school grounds are well maintained. There is no garbage disposal system. The garbage is collected on a heap behind the school and burned. Depending on the direction of the wind, the smoke is drawn directly or indirectly into the school.

General condition of the school (cleanliness / maintenance work)

There are alternating pupils responsible for the cleaning of the latrines, as well as for the garbage collection. Unfortunately there is no training in the field of water/hygiene/environment. Therefore the latrines are cleaned and the garbage is disposed. There is simply a lack of understanding and knowledge.

Conversion of the school

Measures

The WaSH plant will be operated with rainwater in the future.

  • Rainwater collection tank, incl. foundation and pipes: 15 pcs. each with 4,000 l = 60,000 litres capacity.
  • Biosand filter (BSF): 1 pc. with a flow rate of 2,000 l per day
  • Hand washing stations: 2 pcs.
  • professional cleaning and repair of the existing two toilet houses
  • new: a latrine house with 5 toilets; the buildings are divided into girls and boys. The standard according to the Ministry of Education & Sport is one toilet per 50 girls and one toilet per 100 boys. We also install urinals for the boys and all the toilet buildings will be equipped with access for disabled children.
  • Various hand washing stations will be installed in front of the toilets and at the entrance of the school.
  • To protect the pupils from dust, several trees will be planted at the entrance to the school and the used water will be used to irrigate the plants.

Teacher training

  • Project organization and planning
  • Handling and maintenance of the WASH system
  • Avoidance and appropriate disposal of waste in cooperation with Plastic Free Cambodia (PFC)
  • The teachers and sales staff of the market stalls are trained in cooperation with Plastic Free Cambodia in accordance with the 3Rs principle (Replace, Reduce, Refine). This knowledge should be passed on to the students. An incinerator will also be installed.
  • Day4Girls workshop for girls over the age of twelve. The girls will be informed and trained about puberty, the associated changes in the body and necessary hygiene measures.
  • Teaching units in the areas of hygiene, environment, drinking water implemented

Water Analysis

Testing of drinking water quality

Monitoring & Evaluation

Continuous control

Costs per head/child for an effective, long-lasting and sustainable elimination of inhumane conditions 34,19 €.

Detailed project costs

Date: 06. June 2019

Condition of the school after the conversion

With a total budget of around $ 21,605, the hygienic learning and working conditions of over 573 students were improved effectively and sustainably.

The health risks are thus significantly minimized and the number of diarrheal diseases due to poor sanitary conditions, impure drinking water and a lack of hygiene are drastically minimized. The WASH project of the Noritisetha elementary school was implemented on budget and all the specified goals were achieved. The quality and quantity of the installed WASH infrastructure and technologies are continuously checked by the local organization Rainwater Cambodia, the partner of the small aid operation.

Date: 19. October 2019

Project coordinates: 12.621502,104.005585

Emergence and meaningfulness – WaSH (water sanitary hygiene) project

During our trip in January / February 2013, we became aware of the disastrous conditions of a school near Banan. There is no drinking water, no hand washing facility and no toilet. The children are forced to releive themselves in the bushes behind the school. It is not hard to imagine which health dangers emanate from this condition.

When Bong and I visit the school together with our team, we ask the children who would like to have something to drink. About 30% of the small children have some water, bottled in an old plastic bottle, cloudy and unimaginably dirty. When a little girl proudly pulls out her bottle to drink from it, I suddenly feel the need to knock the bottle out of her hands. It brings tears to my face, especially as I myself have a little daughter at home. The idea that she would have to drink this broth and then make her emergency (95% diarrhea) behind the school, all without toilet paper and without the option to wash your hands …. this idea will not leave my mind for days.

We had to work out a plan of how we could change this. Back in Germany, I had the opportunity to present this project to the Rotary Club „Willich“. My listeners quickly realized that with little money, many children can be sustainably helped. The projects are sustainable, effective and almost unbeatable in relation to the budget needed and the quality / quantity of the aid. We are building a pilot project and one of our most successful programs has its origins: WASH.

Today, four years later, in cooperation with the two Austrian organizations „Wasser-für-die-Welt“ and „Last-Hope“, the Rotary Clubs „Willich“ and “Neuss”, we have launched the „moeglichkeitenschenken“ initiative Partner agency „springer f3“ and, of course, our partner organization „Bareebo“ has already converted 24 schools and thus helped around 3,000 children.

Talk to us and become a development worker. We have schools that fit into your budget and you can help there effectively, concretely and sustainably.

Details

Status: Process completed
Budget: $ 21.605,-
Sponsor: United Vars

Before the conversion

After the conversion