Bringing a toilet and taps to a remote Bougainville school

Above: Teacher in Charge of Br. Felix Koniana Elementary School, Mrs Rehab Taiaka (in green), with Save the Children PNG WASH Officers beside the new VIP latrine. Photo: Ronald Naki/Save the Children PNG

One hundred and seventy students in a small elementary school in Central Bougainville now have access to proper hand washing stations and a toilet, after support through the Australian Humanitarian Partnership COVID-19 activation in PNG.

Students have also learned the importance of good hygiene practices, and are using this information in their daily life.

Teacher in Charge of Br. Felix Koniana Elementary School, Rehab Taiaka, was delighted when her school received two handwashing stations and a new ventilated improved pit (VIP) latrine.

In November last year, as part of the response to COVID-19, the AHP water, sanitation and hygiene (WASH) baseline assessment for elementary schools in the Autonomous Region of Bougainville (ARoB) was conducted by Save the Children. It found that Br. Felix Koniana Elementary was one of the schools in ARoB that had no WASH facilities at all.

The Save the Children team in ARoB then worked together with school teachers and the Board of Management to install the facilities and provide consumables, such as soap, for students at the school, as well as sharing information.

Mrs Taiaka, who has taught at the school for seven years, said that the lack of facilities meant students and teachers used bushes and the river nearby when they needed to use the toilet or wash their hands.

“I am very impressed because these facilities will also equip my students to know the value of hygiene at the elementary level,” Mrs Taiaka said.

“I’m supportive of this approach because I see it’s very important to create a clean environment to keep the students well and healthy.”

Children from five different villages within Central Bougainville attend Br. Felix Koniana Elementary School, which is nearly a two-hour drive away from Arawa town.