Project Namuna
Jumla is one of the most remote districts of Mid-Western Nepal and is situated amongst some of the highest peaks on the planet. It is really difficult to reach these isolated communities and development has been a very slow process. We have been working with the local government and the community of Chandanath to reconstruct and build a functioning toilet at Namuna School.
Our work has gone a long way in helping the school build an adequate toilet facility, which in turn enhances student productivity and keeps young girls from dropping out of school.
What has been accomplished
“The old toilet was unusable and students would go to the forests and nearby hills instead.”
500 students now have a safe, clean and usable toilet at their school.
6 gender-friendly stalls including a toilet for students with physical disabilities.
These kids can now focus on staying in school rather than missing it because of menstruation or diarrhoea.
We first visited Jumla in November 2019. At the time, Namuna school had only one toilet which was broken and not functioning. Students would often go to the hills on the side of the school to defecate out in the open, without clean water, privacy or safety.
The school has around 500 students and such a facility was not adequate. We launched the "It's Time to Give A Shit" campaign in early 2020, seeking the help of incredible people from around the world in order to build a new toilet.
enter manavta
We began the project weeks before COVID-19 hit Nepal in early 2020. Though the world shut down, we continued our efforts and for the first time we would coordinate a project remotely.
Despite COVID-19 pausing the construction of our toilet, Manavta remained present in Jumla through various programs such as delivering information packages about health and safety measures, hygiene kits and food to the families affected by the pandemic. Learn more about our work during this time here.
Fast forward to March 2021, when we successfully completed the construction and built 6 toilet stalls, three for girls, two for boys and one accessible for students with physical disabilities.
