the President the Rotary Club of Accra-West, Mr Emmanuel Quarshie (right) presenting the keys to the facility to Mr Israel Martei, the Kanda Circuit Supervisor

Rotary Club of Accra-West hands over sanitary facilities to Kanda Basic school

Zadok K. Gyesi Jun - 13 - 2018 , 17:07 2 minutes read

The Rotary Club of Accra-West has inaugurated two washroom facilities for the Kanda Basic School in the Greater Accra Region, valued at US$10,000.

The gesture, supported by the Rotary Club of Accra-Kanda, is aimed at improving good sanitary practices among the pupils and also contribute to disease prevention.

Speaking at a brief ceremony to hand over the facility to the school, the President of Rotary Club of Accra-West, Mr Emmanuel Quarshie, said lack of a washroom and urinal facilities in schools put the health of pupils at risk.

He explained that the club was touched by the plight of the pupils in the school when it visited the school some two years ago and realised there was no proper washrooms available.

Members of Rotary Club of Accra-West in a pose with the students after the inauguration ceremony

He added that he was further saddened when the Headmaster of the school, Mr Alex Cooper, told him that due to the lack of proper washrooms, many of the female students had to retain their urine during school hours or absent themselves from school during their menstruation as they could not do it in the open like the boys.

Mr Quarshie said the absence of descent washrooms had tremendous consequences on the pupils' health, explaining that retaining one’s urine for a very long time could expose one to contracting urinary tract infection (UTI) or bladder infection.

“Urine retention has been proven to expose the body to potentially harmful bacteria, which can increase the chances of getting urinary tract infection (UTI) or bladder infection,” he noted.

Some members of the Rotary Club of Accra-West at the inauguration

The Kanda Circuit Supervisor, Mr Israel Martei, who received the facility on behalf of the school commended the club for the gesture, saying it would go a long way to improve sanitary practices in the school.

He said the school has benefited in diverse ways from the club and further urged the club to extend the gesture to other schools within the Nima-Kanda enclave.