WASH

Hazi Jan Mohammad High School is situated in a remote area of Dhamsona Union, Savar Upazila, Dhaka. There are 383 students studying in this school, yet this school did not have a proper toilet installed. An unhygienic latrine with no running water facility, covered by tin shed was being used by all the teachers and the boys. It was always found dirty, unclean and always had an extreme unpleasant smell. The girls did not have a separate toilet facility and as a result they had to go home or to a neighbor’s house to use the washroom. This caused unwanted absenteeism among the female students and the teachers could not do anything about this due to the lack of funding at the school to construct new facilities.

“I feel ashamed to go to the toilet when I am at school. Sometimes when I have to slip away from class and go to the neighbor’s house, it makes me feel deeply embarrassed” says Afroza, a student of class ten.
One day, a community mobilizer of SAJIDA Foundation visited this school and the headmaster briefed them about these problems. After a thorough analysis of the situation, SAJIDA Foundation’s WASH program suggested that a WASH facility should be installed at the school. Alongside WaterAid, SAJIDA Foundation constructed WASH facilities for the female students of the school. This facility is
differenlty abled friendly, consists of three chambers, has a menstrual hygiene management facility, handwashing station and
safe drinking water facilities (purification UV filter).

Afroza and the female students of the school now can attend school regularly and do not feel ashamed when they have to go to the washroom and they are grateful to SAJIDA Foundation for the new facilities they can now avail.