International Day of the Girl 2013

Gulu High School is a mixed boarding school in northern Uganda, with a population of 1065 students: 464 girls and 601 boys.
In 2007 Drop in the Bucket first visited this school and found that near the main part of the school there were only toilets for the boys. The girls had to either walk to the dorms or wait until after class was done for the day.

Studies have shown overwhelmingly, that a lack of decent toilets is a major contributing factor in girls dropping out of school. After puberty, the female dropout rate increases dramatically, mainly because many girls do not have an effective way to manage menstruation. Missing up to one week of school every month, causing them to fall behind with their studies and ultimately leading them to drop out.
Earlier this week we visited the school and sat down with the school’s Deputy Head Teacher, Sarah Jokit Odong (pictured above). She told us that the toilets have contributed to the school’s 70% girl retention rate. “The girls are happy and feel like they are being listened to and taken care of.”After seeing the problem, Drop In The Bucket decided the girls needed their own set of toilets. The system we constructed at Gulu High School consists of a hand-washing station, ten pour-flush toilets, and our unique septic system, that actually treats sewage rather than just storing it.
Today is International Day of the Girl and hearing this news from one of our schools was a great way to commemorate the day. There is a sign you often see at schools in Uganda that states: “If you educate a girl, you educate a nation”. Installing toilets at Gulu High was just the first step of many as we continue to build wells and sanitation systems throughout sub-Saharan Africa. Let’s take today to be grateful for the girls that can now harness the life-changing power of education, and let’s also use today as inspiration to join together to fight for the rights of the many girls still out there whose voices are still not heard.
Sanitation and menstrual hygiene management keep girls in school. It’s time to break the silence.