It has been another hot dusty day. We travelled a total of 67km... Most of it on unmade roads (otherwise known as footpaths). However the van rattles less and there is some improvement in comfort after Charles took a trip to the garage. We paid the huge price of £17 for a new bush on the rear suspension! I have no idea how Charles negotiates the trees, boulders, narrow bridges, partially washed away roads or tiny tracks on steep inclines. Somehow he does it and we only have to walk a few hundred metres at the end. And thanks for the messages, yes today I had cake. Banana cake Ugandan style!
We visited 5 children today, 4 were at school. We did 4 school visits and 1 home visit. One of the key issues for these children is how they manage to use the toilet, and whether facilities at school and home provide them with practical solutions for going to the loo... And there's the question of privacy and dignity.
I had a good laugh yesterday. Remember we're out in very rural locations. I needed what is euphamistically referred to here as a 'short call'. We were at a village so Penelop went about finding me a loo. Eventually we were directed to a flight of stairs going down to the basement of a guest house. At the back was a narrow concrete passage with lots of doors & 3 women lounging around. Penelop had a long involved duscussion then shook her head and started walking back.
I said, 'Whats the matter?'
She said, 'They do not have flush toilet.'
I said, 'Its not a problem.'
Penelop looked surprised, asked if I really meant that, looked behind a door and pulled a face. I walked past her and did my business in a perfectly suitable extremely basic latrine. I laughed at her expression all the way back to the 'boys'.
So we all have expectations, but sometimes the need outweighs the preference for sweet smelling cleanliness. But... should we expect children with disability (CWD) to put up with what's available if their inability to squat means their hands might be on a filthy floor, or because they can't stand they have to sit on the floor? Of course not.
Every home and every school visit includes discussion of how the child manages with toileting, followed by a latrine inspection. I've decided the latter is much more suited to Tom's skill set than mine!
Sometimes we're pleasantly surprised. One family built a separate latrine for their disabled child as she can't stand, she has her own clean place. The government installs one accessible toilet when it funds new school latrines. They may not be built to specifications recommended by Ugandan disability groups, but its a start. At least there's one latrine with handrails... They may be too high or too low for most children, there's only one so its for boys or girls not both, it may be built at the bottom of a rough track which a wheelchair couldn't manage, the ramp may curve at the top, be too narrow for a wheelchair to negotiate the toilet door, and the stall too small to turn a wheelchair... But its a start! Or is it?
Several children we've met can manage on their own. Others are carried, supported to squat or have learnt interesting ways of negotiating a hole in the ground. We've spent a lot of time thinking about this. How can we help children get to school if they can't get to the latrine at the top or bottom of a hill over rough ground or they can't stand or squat?
We've got lots of ideas, but every child and every school is unique. We're getting quotes for different designs of latrines, quotes for septic tanks where latrines can't be dug deep enough. We're researching child sized commodes and will be asking for a design and quote for a wooden frame with a raised toilet seat. At one school a child's parents pay for a teacher to take her to the toilet. At another, the teacher leaves a class of nursery children so she can take a child to the toilet. Our big challenge in the next few days is to come up with creative solutions for about half the children in the research project. We'll be talking about poo for the rest of the week....
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