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Afghanistan: project report November 2006

Second school opened and 50 wells built. Breakthrough in ecological sanitation achieved.

06.11.2006 |Gero Fedtke

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Kata Khill, WECF’s partner organization in the province of Kunduz in Northern Afghanistan, has finished building the second school of the 4-year TMF project. The school is located in the village Za Khel near Kunduz. The children of this village have been unable to go to school for all the years of the Afghan Civil War and the years that followed. The involvement of a former Taliban commander as additional site manager has ensured the involvement and positive attitude of critical stakeholder groups for this school construction.


The sanitary facilities of Za Khel school.

The school is erected on a foundation of limestone. Pillars of reinforced concrete and a ring beam enhance the building’s protection against earthquakes. Walls are made of bricks, and the ceilings are reinforced with a layer of concrete under a tin roof. This new kind of ceiling has the advantage that scorpions cannot inhabit it, which they did in the ceiling constructions formerly used – distracting pupils from learning when dropping down on chairs and desks.

The school territory is surrounded on three sides by a wall, leaving space open for the children to go to the nearby field and play. Huge mulberry trees shade the school yard on hot summer days.


The Za Khel school.

Fifteen teachers teach 290 girls and 540 boys in the school. The number of girls will rise in the years to come as scepticism among the parents towards sending especially older girls to school will diminish. The teachers are paid by the local government. The school is equipped with dry urine diverting toilets.
 
In the two years project duration, EcoSan has gained ground considerably in the project area. Katachel e.V. director Sybille Schnehage, Kunduz project manager Dadgul Delawar, and Kata Khill’s staff have propagated and demonstrated the sanitation approach in the schools built as a part of the TMF project, several of their project facilities, and selected homes. After the successful introduction in Aka Khel school last year, the pedagogical academy of Kunduz has now been equipped with dry urine diverting toilets as have many homes.


Mahmad Safar’s well in Ludin, Kunduz province.

The former Taliban-Military Commander of Kunduz has built such a toilet for himself with the help of Kata Khill staff, and advised his neighbours to follow his example. An overall 60 household toilets and 5 public toilets at schools (including Za Khel school), the pedagogical academy and a weaving project were built. The over all number of users is about 3300, about 1200 of private households.
 

EcoSan: dry urine diverting toilets are comfortable, do not smell, and make urine available as fertilizer – they provide many reasons for a smile!

The 60 new wells were built presumably in the Ludin and Anghor Bagh regions. The wells are reinforced with rings of concrete, and can be closed by a lid when not used to protect the well water from contamination. The wells are built in houses’ yards, which enables women to use them freely, which would be impossible if the wells were placed in streets or public places. The wells serve about 1500 people. These new wells will considerably improve the water supply situation of these people who were either forced to walk far for clean water or had to use contaminated sources.

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