TILE AFRICA GOES BEYOND TOILETS FOR EASTERN CAPE SCHOOL

As part of their
continued commitment to supporting the governments’ SAFE initiative, Tile
Africa, a division of Norcros South Africa, recently assisted Nokwazi Junior
Secondary School with new toilets for their learners. “This is the first of five
schools that the company has pledged to assist with providing bathroom
facilities,” says Rachel Imasiku, Legal Director and Company Secretary for
Norcros South Africa.

The Nokwazi school
had no pre-existing bathrooms, only pit latrines for the approximately 350
students enrolled there. Located two and half hours outside of Umtata, in rural
Ladyfrere, Eastern Cape, the project presented the team with some unique
challenges, foremost being the fact there was no running water at the school. A
twofold approach was applied to solve this.

Once the
construction of the building was complete, Enviro-loo, the manufacturer of a waterless
dry sanitation system was contracted to supply toilets and urinals for the
school. This system uses sun and wind to transform human waste into a safe,
stabilised material without the use of water, electricity or chemicals. This
contract includes a servicing agreement to maintain the installation for 2
years. Secondly, a borehole was drilled in order to provide water for the
basins for learners to wash their hands. House of Plumbing, also a division of
Norcros South Africa, supplied Gypsy resin-based basins for the project. These
are extremely strong and don’t crack or chip as traditional porcelainware can.
A paraplegic toilet was also installed to accommodate all users of the school.

“We noticed that
there was no formal kitchen space for preparing the school meals, so we decided
to go beyond the original scope of the project and provide a clean space for
this,” explains Imasiku. The equipment and supplies for the bathroom project
were kept in a storage container on site, during the 8-week build. Rather than
remove the container at the end of the project, it was converted into a kitchen
for the school, with running water piped into the sinks from the new borehole.

As with their
association with the sani2c Jolivet community in KZN, the Tile Africa team took
time to train community members in Ladyfrere on how to tile, in order to uplift
their skills and so that future maintenance and repairs that the school
bathrooms may need, can quickly be attended to. A supply of spare tiles and
adhesives were left at the school for this purpose. The company’s commitment to
the schools extends beyond the supply of bathroom facilities. “We have hired a
cleaner to assist the school with keeping the facilities clean for the first 3
months, and we will be returning to the school before the end of the year, to
supply toiletries and sanitary towels for the students. Tile Africa remains
available to all the schools we’ve assisted for additional support and
follow-up maintenance where possible” confirms Imasiku.

This commitment
follows on from the work done by Tile Africa in 2018, when the company
refurbished 5 Gauteng schools’ bathrooms with new tiles, toilets and basins. In
addition to the upgrading of the existing facilities at these schools, the
company provided a training workshop teaching learners the do’s and don’ts of
toilet care, how to use the toilet properly, and when and how to wash hands.
Posters encouraging good bathroom habits are supplied at these schools, and at
Nokwazi Junior Secondary School.

ENDS

     For more information get in touch with: