Plumbing Facilities Overhauled At Ivory Park Pre-Schools
The outdoor bathroom facilities at three of the five pre-schools in Ivory Park have been rebuilt to meet government accreditation standards and also designed for easier use by the pre-school children.
This project was recently completed thanks in large part to 25:40’s Ivory Park director, Jessica Bowden, a senior in high school in Fairfax County.
The South African provincial government had become aware that the plumbing systems in place at three of the pre-schools were not sanitary enough for use by the children. If they were not fixed the schools would not be accredited and faced losing their monthly governmental stipends - and thus possibly shutting down.
- At Nehemiah Preschool, the 60 children now have a proper building that house their new restrooms. Wash basins were added.
- At Kanana Preschool, which serves about 110 children, two existing adult-sized restrooms were replaced with cubicles for three little restrooms of the appropriate size for pre-schoolers. Wash basins also were installed.
- At Phomolong Preschool, serving 95 children, the adult-sized restrooms were replaced with smaller ones and wash basins installed. For Kanana and Phomolong, these improvements will most likely guarantee government accreditation. Nehemiah still needs to improve kitchen facilities before it can be accredited.
Jessica organized several fund-raising projects, including a band night called Rock for Life at a Vienna, VA pub. A private South African dinner Jessica hosted for friends and family raised the other half of the $3,000 of U.S. funds used to upgrade the bathrooms. The Ivory Park Committee at St. Stithian’s Boys Preparatory School, Randburg, South Africa, contributed $3,600 towards the project as well. St. Stithian’s is located near the informal settlement of Ivory Park and the school is dedicated to outreach work for the Ivory Park community.
“We definitely could NOT have done the projects without your help!!” said Micheline Tusenius, a member of the Ivory Park Committee at St. Stithian’s who oversaw the plumbing project. “It was great to work together like this to realize a really tangible goal for the community in Ivory Park.” The project took a few months to organize and execute, thanks to Micheline’s organizational skills. Splashworks, a South African plumbing firm, quickly tore down the existing outdoor toilets and stalls and installed new ones that met government sanitation standards. Having clean facilities is one very important factor in keeping these pre-school children healthy.
Thank you Jessica and Micheline!