Students at a Seventh-day Adventist school in the Solomon Islands will benefit from new toilet and shower facilities due for completion by the end of August 2024.

The new facilities will serve the Talakali Adventist Community High School (TACHS), the primary school, and the local community. The project features toilets and shower facilities for both males and females, including a ramp from the school building to the sanitation block.

The school has been without proper toilet facilities for the past three years with the previous ablution block removed due to health concerns. Due to this, students have been left to use mangroves and bushes for toileting.

“This new sanitation project will greatly benefit our students as they currently lack proper sanitation facilities,” Rayer Defe Sifoni, TACHS principal, said.

Due to a rise in the sea level, the Talakali community and school administration decided to relocate the project from its initial site in the local community to the school grounds.

TACHS has been designated as an evacuation center for the community during disasters, and the new sanitation facilities will be critical during such times.

The high school and primary school both have over 300 students enrolled from various regions in the Solomon Islands. The high school includes a dormitory that accommodates students from different parts of Malaita and other islands, along with teachers from other provinces.

The project was funded by the Community Disability Centre (CDC), coordinated by the Church Agencies Network Disaster Operations (CANDO) consortium, and implemented by the Adventist Development and Relief Agency (ADRA) Solomon Islands.

Sifoni expressed his excitement about the project, emphasizing its importance for a community like Talakali, which is vulnerable to natural disasters and the impacts of climate change.

“This project has aligned with the school’s plans for proper and permanent sanitation facilities,” he said. “Thank you, ADRA, for funding this project, which will benefit our community during disasters by allowing us to use our classroom as an evacuation center.”

The original article was published on the South Pacific Division website, Adventist Record.