Uganda: St. Mary’s SS Namaliga Girls commend benefactors for the Newly Constructed Hygiene facilities

Uganda is in the African great lakes region and lies within the Nile basin with varied but generally modified equatorial climate. It has a population of over 42 million with majority living low class of the economy.

St. Mary’s SS Namaliga is a secondary school managed by the Salesians of Don Bosco Bombo community with a population of 430 girls who happen to be the beneficiaries of the washroom project.

Before the project implementation and a school being a local school for the low-income earners and the poor, the school had locally built washroom and toilet facilities that happened not to be safe for the girl students as they accelerated the infection of funny diseases amongst the girls in school. Because the community alone could not avail modern washroom and toilet facilities, this was a challenge to girls as some of them would wait for night hours to take shower and also faced challenges going for long call as facilities looked not to be clean for them.

Now these students are happy to have access to hygiene infrastructure, thanks to the support from Fondazione DON BOSCO NEL MONDO which financed the Project entitled: “Enhancing Hygiene in the Girls Boarding section at St. Mary’s SS Namaliga”.

Nantongo Natasha, one of the girls benefiting from this project said: “I thank you for the provision of the toilets and bathroom equipment which were used to construct our new place for convenience. It has improved our hygiene and it is able to accommodate a large number of girls.”

Pimer Christine, Head Prefect also emphasized the importance of this work adding that “We promise to take good care of these facilities and together with the school community we will always be grateful.”

This project which is benefiting 430 female students, created a convenient, functional and standard toilet and washrooms that have enhanced a clean and healthy leaning environment for proper development of the female students of Don Bosco Bombo.

The project has also contributed to the Salesian Community efforts in transforming from the use of ordinary pit latrines to modern standard toilets and washroom.

The project also enhanced a decrease in the cases of infections like UTIs and other bacterial infections amongst the female students that were rampant as a result of using unhealthy and old latrines and shower rooms.