Today is World Toilet Day, an official United Nations international observance day to raise awareness about the 4.2 billion people who still lack access to proper sanitation.*
Unite works hard to find the brightest, and most impoverished, students to enroll in our highly competitive Unite Scholars Program. Each and every one of them come from extremely challenged backgrounds and most lack even the most basic necessities. Part of Unite’s mission, and joy, is to assist our scholars’ families in all ways possible to help ensure our scholars have what they need to succeed and thrive.
Last winter we accepted a new class of 30 scholars. One of them, Loveness Apaeli Urio, 18, is from the Kitefu village in the Arusha district of Northern Tanzania. Loveness lives in tiny two-room house made of mud with her mother and father (who is an alcoholic) and two brothers. Her oldest brother died years ago. Loveness’ mother farms maize and beans and keeps goats and chickens, but there is not enough money to sustain the family. Loveness’ brothers have dropped from school — the older one searches for day labor and the younger one is home helping Loveness’ mother manage the house and farm.
When we met Loveness, their family toilet and washroom was a hole dug in the dirt, covered with a thin wood plank for balance, and surrounded by canvas held up with tree branches. There was no roofing, which made it the space especially slippery and dangerous when it rained. Also, there was no running water to provide any hygiene or sanitation. Instead, Loveness and her young brother would regularly fetch buckets of water from a far-away stream.
Click HERE to see Loveness’ home.
Click HERE to meet Loveness and hear her speak about her family.
Click HERE to see a one-minute video of Loveness’ family taking apart the old toilet structure.
Click HERE to see Loveness’ younger brother moving earth to help build the new toilet/bathing structure.Click HERE to see Loveness and her family friend in front of the new toilet block.
Loveness’ toilet before. It was unsanitary, unsafe, and shameful to the family. They were too embarrassed to have visitors to their home due to their lack of facilities.
The new toilet block. On the left is a pit latrine lined with cement and outfitted with a cess pool that can be emptied by a local company. On the right is a shower/bathing cubby. Unite had water piped to the block as well to ensure proper hygiene and sanitation for Loveness and her family.
Some of the building supplies for the new toilet.
A drawing of the toilet system.
The total cost for all the supplies and to build the proper toilet/bathing block
for Loveness and her family?
$350
(Note: Loveness and her family did as much of the physical labor as they could. Experts were hired to complete the project.)
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