OSI - Wattegama
New
Bathrooms and Showers
January-April, 2007
The
Wattegama home is an ancient planter's "bungalow," -the old home
of a British colonial era plantation owner. As romantic as it
sounds, the home is thus very old and its facilities were dire and
primitive. It has been our goal to improve the facilities of the
home, and the most important of these required some major construction and
reconstruction of the home's sanitation facilities. Thanks to the
extraordinary generosity and genuine care of Mr. Rusi Captain from right
here in Sri Lanka, we have been able to modernize the home's sanitation
facilities and to build a complete new indoor shower/bathing facility for
the children. The result is an important improvement in hygiene, as
well as a much-appreciated increase in the standard of living of the
children in the home, who deserve this very much! Thank you Mr.
Captain!
Donor: Rusi Captain
Project Cost: US $1932 total:
$712 - Bathrooms
(5 units: complete remodel - new commodes, plumbing, masonry, tiling, doors, paint, and
lighting)
$1220 - Showers (complete construction, masonry, tiling, plumbing, door,
paint, hardware, and lighting)
Bathroom Remodel
The five side-by-side water closets were with pit toilets, non-functional plumbing and lighting, cement flooring, and ancient, rotten wooden doors with broken hardware. A modern commode was installed in each unit, with all new plumbing; the floors were tiled, and the interior of each unit was painted, as well as the exterior of the whole block. New electrical/lighting was also installed, and new doors were fitted and installed with all new hardware. The final product is much more sanitary, "user-friendly," and much easier to keep clean!
 Before |
 After (one of five units) |
Shower Block Construction
The "bathing facilities" at the Wattegama home consisted of a large concrete outdoor basin, from which the children would scoop water with buckets to pour over themselves. More inconveniently, the outdoor arrangement required them to wash without removing their robes. To address this critical need, a complete new indoor shower block was constructed from scratch, containing three individual, private, enclosed shower stalls. The entire interior was tiled, and heavy-duty hardware installed, as well as top-quality plumbing fittings. New lighting was installed, the exterior of the new block painted, and a new door installed. The result is a huge improvement to the children's sanitary and hygiene conditions, in addition to being much more convenient, private, and comfortable for them.
 Before (location for new shower block) |
 During Construction |
 Completed |
 Shower Stall (one of three) |
If you are interested in funding a similar project for OSI children, please contact OSI
Other Projects - View other OSI projects
OSI-Wattegama Site Page - General information and photos of our Wattegama site
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