Child Sponsorship · Goal 6 - Clean water and sanitation · Sri Lanka · Water Sanitation and Hygiene · Jul 01, 2021

Improved clean water and sanitation access is a life-changer for children in Sri Lanka

Imagine the only toilet your children can use at school is in a crumbly, old concrete block overgrown with trees and when they have finished there is nowhere for them to wash their hands. Not a nice thought at all.

But now with thanks to ChildFund supporters, 50 students at a school in our dedicated community of Batticaloa in Sri Lanka can now use the toilet with dignity and wash their hands afterward. All ready to head back to class or the playground to learn and play with peers.

At ChildFund, we believe that accessing hygiene, clean water and sanitation should be a given not a luxury. That's why helping communities access better water, sanitation and hygiene is a focus in all of our dedicated communities. For this school, in a rural area of Sri Lanka about 20 kilometres out of Batticaloa, the toilet block was repaired and renovated with tree roots and overhanging trees removed. A new soak pit was installed along with a water line to feed six taps at handwashing station.

The ChildFund Sri Lanka team worked with a local funder to assist this project and the team hopes this could pave the way for more local funding, which would be a new income source. It's also great news as the money originally earmarked for this help can now be used to do other water, sanitation and hygiene work to reach even more children.

Students also received a set of learning materials, a new school bag and a voucher for school shoes.

How you can help children in Sri Lanka access life-changing clean water and sanitation

ChildFund works in communities where access to water is extremely limited. Women and children often walk far distances to collect water, missing out on other important opportunities, like school. Improved sanitation and water access is a life-changer for children in Sri Lanka. Here are some of the ways we, with your support, can help:

Construct new community water access points.

When water is far from home, children and women are forced to walk for hours to collect water for their family. Your donations are helping us build water points even closer to home, so girls and boys can spend their time learning. Click here to help now.

Repair of broken and unsafe water access points.

By improving water quality, we can prevent many communicable diseases and keep children healthy. Your donations are helping us fix broken water points and ensure they contain safe drinking water for vulnerable children. Click here to help now.

Train families on how to maintain water facilities.

One of the best ways to ensure what we do is sustainable, is by training families on how to keep things running smoothly. Your donations help ChildFund establish local water and sanitation committees to keep water safe. Click here to help now.

How you can help children in Sri Lanka access life-changing clean water and sanitation

Further reading on helping children in Sri Lanka access life-changing water and sanitation