For World Toilet Day, which is observed Nov. 19, the church dedicated new toilets at the Love, Caring and Sharing Community Institute in Paynesville, Liberia.
Jefferson Knight, human rights director for the church, said students at the school, especially girls, were getting sick from the old toilet facilities.
“We will make your school environment healthy by constructing modern toilet facilities for you,” he told the students.
The construction was funded through the The United Methodist Church Water for Life Project Advance #3020811. He said contributions from the St. Paul United Methodist Church in Rochester, Michigan, funded this particular project.
A six-room toilet constructed for the LACOSHA Community Institute in Paynesville, Liberia, was part of the United Methodist Church Water for Life project. The modern facility was funded by contributions from St. Paul United Methodist Church in Rochester, Michigan. Photo by Julu Swen, UMNS.
The Rev. George Wilson, the Liberia Connectional Table director, said sanitation is one of the crucial issues that the Liberian church is trying to address through its Water for Life project. “We will make sure that schools like yours and many other communities that are facing sanitary challenges will benefit from the project once the support keeps coming,” he told the students.
The Rev. Wallace B. Kamara, principal and owner of the school, thanked United Methodists for the facilities. He also said the 160 students of the school and the more than 300 community members who use the building for church services will all benefit.
In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly officially designated Nov. 19 as World Toilet Day. The event is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with governments and partners. As part of the Sustainable Development Goals, launched in 2015, the initiative aims to ensure everyone has access to a safely managed household toilet by 2030.
Swen is a communicator in Liberia. News media contact: Vicki Brown, Nashville, Tennessee, (615) 742-5470 or newsdesk@umcom.org.
