Students from Australia and Papua New Guinea have helped construct latrines in a Solomon Islands village that had to be relocated following the devastating earthquake and tsunami in 2007.
Fifteen students from the University of Queensland and two students from the University of Lae participated in the two-week program to build fourteen pit latrines in the village of Keigold in Western Province.
The Keigold community had lived in the seaside village of Mondo on the island of Ranongga but relocated in the hills after the earthquake caused a landslide that made the village unsafe and killed two people.
The program was run by the NGO, Emergency Architects Australia, which says there is a strong need for well-designed latrines that meet basic needs of sanitation and human dignity.
The community assisted with the project, carrying 500 pieces of timber from a nearby mill to the construction sites, carrying supplies, and providing food and accommodation for the volunteers.
