Girls' education down the toilet (for want of a toilet)

Ritah, a 16-year-old student at the school tells us this story: 'One day, I went to the pit latrine and one of the boys from my class was looking at me. I wanted to change my sanitary pads, but he saw me. So, I stopped. He ran away to tell his friends and they started laughing. I was very embarrassed. I left school that day and never returned until Tearfund constructed this improved latrine for girls.'

Confidence to return to the classroom

Thankfully, Tearfund has supported Ritah and her school with the construction of safe, private, gender-sensitive latrines, giving Ritah and other girls the confidence to return to school and continue their education.

But, Ritah's story is one that many girls can relate to – the frustration and embarrassment of trying to use inadequate or shared toilets, ultimately robbing them of the opportunities they need for their future. Some girls give up their schooling completely because of the damage to self-esteem caused by repeated experiences like the one Ritah describes. The stigma associated with having to deal with menstruation in front of peers, particularly teenage boys, often becomes too much to deal with.

Toilets keep students in school

While a lack of good sanitation facilities might affect teenage girls the most, UNESCO research finds that, regardless of gender and age, access to safe, private latrines improves school participation and the overall school and education environment and lowers dropout rates for all children.

School classrooms and sanitary facilities were among the casualties of the 2016 civil war. In some parts of South Sudan's Central Equatoria State, the destruction was such that even though the schools reopened more than two years ago, many of them have not been able to afford to rebuild proper latrines for the pupils.

That was the issue faced by Lumaro Primary School in Yei County. The lack of proper sanitary facilities made it very difficult to keep girls in particular in school.

With just one, grass-thatched pit latrine shared by all the pupils and teachers, the girls say they used to fear going to the pit latrines because they would often run into boys or male teachers which made them uncomfortable. Some of the girls said that, at that time, they wouldn't come to school at all. Others preferred to return home during the day to change and properly clean up. All of this removed them from valuable lesson time.

For 15-year-old Siama, she struggled with the stigma. She says the boys made fun of them and some boys would purposefully peep through the grass thatch when they suspected a girl of being on her period.

She explains, 'The pit latrine was grass-thatched with holes on it. We girls feared being seen, especially while changing our pads. These boys, mostly the big boys in my class, like to laugh and make fun of us. When we went to the pit latrine, they would watch us until we came out. It was very embarrassing. I always wished we had our own latrine with privacy.'

Providing a place to go in privacy and safety

With support from the European Union Civil Humanitarian Aid Operations (ECHO), Tearfund has been constructing gender-sensitive, well-ventilated pit latrines in schools and in camps for internally displaced people (IDPs)* in Central Equatoria.

Lumaru Primary School, where Ritah and Siama are now back in their classrooms, is one of the schools where two blocks of four latrines have been built – one for the girls and the other for the boys.

These improved pit latrines have also provided the girls with a safe, private space for changing and bathing whenever they need to, particularly during their period.

One of the issues with not having good sanitation facilities is that girls don't have anywhere suitable to wash themselves, change their sanitary pads, or dispose of them appropriately. For this reason, they often miss school during their menstrual period or have to carry the dirty pads with them all day long. The changing room area makes it possible for girls to manage their menstruation safely and hygienically.

According to Akujo, the Senior Woman Teacher of Lumaro Primary School, since the new toilet blocks have been installed, the girls feel safer and more confident, and they spend more time at school. Cases of girls missing classes or dropping out of school because of poor sanitary facilities are now unheard of.

'These are not just mere pit latrines, they mean more than that to the schools,' she says. 'They mean girls remaining at school, they mean confidence, safety, health and good grades. We are very grateful to Tearfund and ECHO. This has changed our lives at school completely.'

If you'd like to help make sure more work like this gets done, why not twin your toilet and give more people the relief of a good, safe sanitation situation? Find out more here.

*IDPs are people who have had to leave their homes and find shelter somewhere else within the country. Usually this is because of conflict or disaster making it unsafe for them to stay where they are.