Fredericksburg Rotary Club joined with five other Clubs to construct rainwater catchment tanks, toilets, handwashing facilities, septic tanks and incinerators for sanitary napkins at seven public schools in northwest Tanzania.
The project is serving 3,739 children -- 1,925 girls and 1,814 boys ages 5 to 18 years old. Students previously spent several hours a day collecting contaminated water from a stream. The project budget of $145,000 was raised from six Rotary Clubs - Fredericksburg, Pleasanton, New Braunfels, Ballinger, Canyon Lake and Fredericksburg Morning. More than 20 individual Rotarians also contributed financially to the project.
The project will (1) reduce the incidence of bacterial and parasitic-caused dysentery that is the number one cause of death for children five years of age and younger in the Bukoba area; (2) improve academic performance among students by reducing absences due to illness, reducing time spent waiting in line for an available toilet and reducing time spent collecting water; (4) reduce the economic burden on parents paying for medical expenses and missing work to stay home with sick children; and (5) reduce infections in girls due to poor menstrual hygiene.
The estimated annual per capita income for this area of Tanzania is $166 US dollars with the primary occupation being subsistence agriculture.