Madina Tindano is an elementary school student who lives in Bogandé, East Burkina Faso. For a long time, the toilets in her school remained unusable and completely abandoned. Now in her final year at the school (CM2), Madina is overjoyed with the project of renovation of the latrines in her school. Thanks to the promotion of children’s right to education through better access to water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) project.

The NGO behind the WASH Project is the UNICEF Foundation in Spain. As one of their educational projects, WASH believes that every child has the right to a quality education including access to drinking water, sanitation and hygiene services while at school. This can impact students’ learning, health, and dignity, particularly for girls like Madina . “When I see my period, I am very embarrassed to come to school because we don’t have toilets.” Madina said. WASH aims to improve access to water, sanitation and hygiene in 12 rural schools, including Madina’s, in the East region of Burkina Faso. 2796 students, 77 teachers and 48 parents will benefit from this project.

Igalia has been collaborating with UNICEF Foundation in Spain since 2007 in promoting access to quality education for children in Africa, and is proud to have been a part of this effort by contributing the funds to help 2 rural schools, which will help 430 students, 11 teachers and 7 parents. To make sure the project goes as planned, a monitoring commission is formed including some UNICEF members and representatives from Igalia (Javier Fernández and María Piñeiro).

The project started in February 2022 and was expected to finish in a year’s time. Unfortunately, the implementation of the project was affected by the insecurity situation in Gnagna province, which had caused the closure of the initially pre-selected schools ( Our hearts go with the children, teachers and parents from these schools. We hope things work out the best for them) . For this reason, activities are reoriented towards new schools located in a safer area of the same province, the commune of Bogande, and the project has been extended until the end of June. Apart from this initial delay, the project has been progressing very well. To achieve the goals, WASH has managed to get students, local authorities and communities, local organizations and private sectors involved throughout the project. Following work have been carried out:

• Improving access to sustainable water and sanitation facilities by constructing and rehabilitating water points and latrines, also via distribution of WASH kits.
• Increasing knowledge on good hygiene practices by providing training for Hygiene Clubs, implementing Schools Action Plan and running awareness raising campaigns.
• Strengthening schools and communities’ capacities by providing training to Parents’ Associations and Teachers.

Doesn’t this joyful smile make you feel happy too? :-).