Fort Portal Islamic Nursery and Primary School, Nyabukara was established on January 2011 by the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council. It is a mixed day Primary School that helps children in need in far off villages from Fort Portal. After doing a feasibility study, results showed that needy children from villages do not begin school at an early enough age. Therefore, the community of the Uganda Muslim Supreme Council and the individual charity bodies agreed on land and the school was born.
The school was renting some poorly maintained latrines from a neighbour for girls use and was in need of its own facilities.
The Project
The school has built one block of four classrooms which are in use though not fully completed. On our inspection it was apparent a 2-stance pit latrine had been started some time ago but was left incomplete. One Brick team was to construct a 3-stance latrine, shower and urinal for the school.
The Works
One Brick constructed a 3-stance pit latrine, a shower and a urinal place on the existing slab. The existing slab was extended to accommodate the urinal place at one end and the shower place at the other. A pipe was then fitted underneath the urinal running the urine into the pit and a similar solution was applied for the shower with a pipe running to a separate superficial soak pit.
The front covering wall was designed to be slightly short with holes through it. In that way, general safety of users is considerably increased for the reason that they can been seen and also see the outsiders when using the facility.
Consultation was sought regarding government specifications for pit latrines for schools in order to work in line with the required standards. Environmentally sustainable construction guidelines and procedures were followed during the entire process of construction. It was agreed that this work would be delivered as a community project.
The Completed Work
This pit latrine has been designed to fit the needs of the students whose health had been exposed to danger as evidenced by the state of the latrines that were being used. The constructed facility included:
- 3-stance pit latrine
- Urinal space
- Shower room
- 500 litre rain water harvesting system and storage
The design of the roof includes transparent sheets which allow more light inside each room this creates more comfort and safety for the users.
One Brick also included a fruit tree planting activity at the school. Different species of trees were planted including guava, mango, avocado among others in order to help in the conservation of the environment.
The excitement of the children at the school, the teachers and the positive comments from various people in the local community have proved beyond doubt the difference such a small project can make in the lives of young children as well as the community. This project has once again exhibited One Brick's commitment towards supporting the education infrastructure and the welfare of young students in the Rwenzori region.