En lo alto de las montañas de Bolivia, una escuela ha logrado grandes cambios en materia de agua, higiene y saneamiento.
"Before, we didn’t have latrines connected to water at the school," says Edmundo Chura, who has been teaching at the school for 15 years. "Now, there is better quality water, and the bathrooms are connected to the sewer system."
La escuela está ubicada en el distrito de Tiraque, en una región rural y montañosa de Bolivia. Hay más de 800 estudiantes en la escuela y ahora todos tienen acceso a agua y saneamiento.
Edmundo ha vivido en esta comunidad por más de 15 años y sabe que crear un cambio a largo plazo tiene que comenzar con los niños.
"We have the hope that if we can change the children’s behavior around water and sanitation, they will change their families, and then the whole community will change," explains Edmundo.
In addition to the previous lack of safe water and sanitation services, the teachers were also concerned about the students’ poor hygiene.
"When I started teaching here two years ago, I noticed the students were not staying clean," says Jhenny Balderrama Rodriguez, another teacher at the school. "Many only took one shower a week and didn’t brush their teeth. They were dirty all the time!"
With support from Water For People and local partners, the school began to implement hygiene education. Once every week, the students began watching videos about topics like hand washing, tooth brushing, taking care of the environment, and safe uses of water. Jhenny said the students’ hygiene has been improving considerably.
Los estudiantes de la escuela están entusiasmados con los cambios que están ocurriendo.
"There are now bathrooms at the school!" says 14-year-old Gisela. "They also put up signs about taking care of water, and there are resources in the girls’ bathroom to show us how to use menstrual hygiene products."
Julie dice que las niñas de la escuela han comenzado a sentirse mucho más cómodas con la menstruación y sus compañeros de clase comparten su opinión.
"Girls are coming to school when they are on their periods," says 13-year-old Julie. "They feel more comfortable when they are on their period, since teachers have talked to us and told us it is natural and we don’t need to feel ashamed of it."
Little by little, teachers like Jhenny and Edmundo are empowering students in Tiraque. These students – Gisela and Julie and hundreds of others – are already changing the future of water, sanitation, and hygiene for their families and communities.
