| When large number of families live in refugee camps
it is easy to spread disease and hard to maintain
proper hygienic conditions, especially without toilets
and water. I saw this problem in some of the refugee
camps.
Some camps had no water and the ones that did have
water did not have enough. The same was true of
toilets. Some camps had absolutely no toilets whatsoever.
The ones which did have toilets had only one or
two that had to accommodate many whole families.
When I first arrived at the refugee camp where
fifty families were living, I was surprised to see
that there were no toilets in the camp. People had
to walk about quarter of a mile to the nearby school.
The school which itself had only three toilets was
already a home to over one hundred refugee families.
When I arrived at the camp it was difficult to
walk in the woods in the back of the refugee camp
without stepping on you know what. I especially
felt sorry for the young and teenage girls and the
women in the camp. It was hard to imagine how all
those people lived in that camp without toilets.
We went into action immediately and built two toilets
within a few days. Then we were lucky to come across
a NGO who told us that they can help us to build
toilets in any locations that we chose.
Now wherever the toilets are needed we arrange
permits and necessary documents so that they can
be built without much delay. Toilets and water facilities
are essential requirements for everybody to live
with dignity. Especially for those who have lost
everything they owned and their loved ones this
is something small that we can do which will help
them to live with dignity and good spirit.
The Triple Gem Society will continue our efforts
to build toilets and drinking water facilities in
tsunami affected areas.
|
