By Chris Coats | Executive Director / Co-Founder
The year is new, and much is yet to happen before the rainy season hits. It is especially important to construct latrines during the dry season, January through June. The rainy season makes construction of latrines impossible because the land becomes flooded. Without a latrine, villagers have no choice but to defecate on the ground around their homes, contaminating their water sources.
Most people are aware of the direct connection between good health and the ability for a person to prosper. In most developing countries, it is as simple as children being able go to school when they are healthy, and parents having enough time and energy to work in the store, the home, or the fields.
Lack of adequate sanitation causes more deaths than HIV, malaria and tuberculosis combined. Latrines reduce the amounts of ground surface Ecoli and typhoid which contaminate crops and surface water used by villagers. Latrines provide a more comfortable, safe and private area for use by all beneficiaries, especially women and children. The best way to improve sanitation and hygiene in poor rural villages is to build latrines.
To that end, Trailblazer's Health program primarily focuses on providing clean water to families and villages, and the construction of latrines to help increase a family’s, or village’s, overall hygiene. Starting with clean water allows access to increased health and sustainable livelihoods. Safe water and basic sanitation are fundamentals necessary to empower the world’s poorest people and break the cycle of poverty.
With your support, Trailblazer will be able to provide the cement rings, concrete cover slab, and walls for up to 100 latrines, [at an average of 5 people per family] you will be helping 500 villagers. Recipient villagers will be invested in the project by providing the dirt for the foundation, to avoid contamination in the flood season, as well as construct the walls and roof structure. Each family will also receive training on sanitation and hygiene, and how to improve their health with the proper use of a latrine.
We hope you will continue to help us in this cause to reduce illness and improve villagers' health and livelihoods.
Thank you. Our work is not possible without your generous support.
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