East Meets West a program of Thrive Networks
“I rarely go to the toilet at school, sometimes there is no water in the toilet or the water won’t flush down. My friends use up all the toilet paper or take it somewhere. The hand washing station is clogged too. Before washing hands, we have to splash the dirty water out of the basin.”
Shared by Ms. Trieu Thi Kieu Oanh, a student of 9B class at Cao Son primary and secondary school, Da Bac district, Hoa Binh province when asked about the toilet use at school.
Understanding the difficulties of mountainous students in accessing healthy schools, East Meets West Foundation (EMWF) collaborated with Hoa Binh Women’s Union to successfully implement the “Building healthy schools for ethnic minority girls in Hoa Binh province” project from December 01st, 2021 to June 31st, 2022 at Cao Son and Trung Thanh primary and secondary schools in Da Bac district, Hoa Binh province. The project is funded by New Zealand Embassy in Vietnam with an aim to empower ethnic minority girl students by improving water and sanitation conditions, providing knowledge on adolescent gender role and menstrual hygiene management (MHM), helping them be confident at school and in their daily life.
Thanks for the project, 02 hygienic toilets were upgraded for boys and girls at 02 beneficiary schools. 02 handwashing facilities with soap were also installed near the toilets to be convenient for using.
Furthermore, 01 clean and safe drinking water filtration system was installed at Cao Sơn secondary school. EMWF tested the water quality before and after the installation to determine the right water filtration system and ensure it met all qualities and requirements for safe drinking water before being used by 300 students, teachers, and staff.
To support students in difficult mountainous areas, especially for ethnic minority girl students, EMWF collaborated with expert consultants to organize 02 trainings on gender equality MHM for 70 teachers and students. The consultant provided knowledge to help students experience healthy puberty especially with an open view on menstrual hygiene management. The students were also provided many sexual health products such as: MHM handbooks, individual water bottles, sanitary napkins with bags.
Watch the video to learn more about the project’s impacts at: Building healthy schools for ethnic minority girls in Hoa Binh province – YouTube
Read the full project completion report at: EMWF HOMF COMPLETION REPORT English BHS FINAL
At the heart of our programs are strong partnerships with government, private sector, civil society groups, and local communities. We also implement learning and feedback strategies to strengthen our approaches to promoting gender and socially inclusive WASH practices in our partner communities.
