Toilets and clean water for Nyawal and her classmates in South Sudan

Like millions of children across Africa, Nyawal, ten, is keen to complete her education, although for years the odds have been stacked against her.

She is a student at Waat Primary School in Jonglei State, South Sudan and has to walk 30 minutes in intense heat to get to school every day.

Until recently, her school didn’t have running water or latrines, meaning Nyawal and her fellow pupils would go the whole day without having anything to drink or being able to go to the toilet after their long walks to school.

Sadly, many young children have no option but to drink from pools of dirty rain water, despite the fact that this places them at severe risk of serious illness or infection.

In Nyirol County, where Nyawal lives, half the families get their water from pools of stagnant rain water, with 27% of children under suffering from diarrhoea, the leading cause of death in infants under the age of five.

Since Save the Children installed a borehole and latrines next to her school, Nyawal and her classmates have been able to concentrate on their education rather than on their thirst.

“When I would drink from pools of rainwater, I would often get sick. My stomach would hurt and I was not able to come to school.”

“Having this new borehole next to our school will make it easier for us to get clean water without having to walk far. Now when we’re thirsty, we can just go outside and get a drink.”

At the same time, we’re working to provide hygiene education programmes in schools across the Jonglei State of Southern Sudan so that children such as Nyawal and her classmates learn the importance of drinking clean water and washing properly.

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