A rural school in a remote part of the Central Asian nation of Uzbekistan is pioneering a project aimed at boosting children’s health – by replacing the toilets.
The project is a cooperative venture between the government of Uzbekistan and Latter-day Saint Charities, which has worked in the country for 29 years.
School Number 11 is in the Bostanliq district of the Tashkent region, where children gathered last week to watch a ribbon-cutting ceremony to open the project.
The old toilets have been replaced by new ones, connected to an extensive drainage system based on techniques followed in the United States. A group of delegates from the country visited Utah and Idaho earlier in the year to look over the system and decide if it fit their own rural communities. They decided that it did.
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The wastewater will now be filtered and safely absorbed into the ground.
At the recent ribbon cutting ceremony, Elder Jack N Gerard, a representative from Latter-day Saints Charities, interacted with the children. “Your leaders have been exceptional in finding ways that we can focus on you, as the rising generation and future leaders of Uzbekistan,” he said.
“These children are delightful,” he added. “Their parents, the school, the government authorities are doing their best to protect their future health and wellbeing.”
Because the inexpensive system operates without electricity and needs little maintenance, government leaders hope it can be extended across the country. Similar pilot projects are now underway at schools in the Jizzakh and Sirdaryo regions.