Sanitary Facility for Children with Special Needs

Project: Accessible Sanitary Facility & Special Education Classroom Improvement
Category: Social Service / Special Needs Education
Location: Batawala Junior School
Project Period: December 2020 – April 2021
Handed Over: 9 April 2021
Initiative: “Hadawathe Sihinaya”

This project began with a visit that had an entirely different purpose.

I originally visited Batawala Junior School to donate a computer through our Hadawathe Sihinaya computer project. During that visit, I noticed the school's Special Education Unit and took some time to observe the classroom and speak with the parents.

Their stories changed the purpose of my visit.

Because there was no suitable sanitary facility adjoining the classroom, parents sometimes had to carry their children approximately 50 metres to reach a toilet. I was particularly affected when I learned that some of these children had to place their hands on the toilet floor while using the existing facilities.

As a parent myself, it was difficult to walk away after hearing what these families experienced every day.

I made no promise to the principal or the parents that day. But I left the school with a personal determination: somehow, I wanted to build an appropriate sanitary facility next to that classroom.

From determination to construction

The idea remained with me until we were finally able to turn it into a practical project.

Construction preparations began on 23 December 2020, when sand and stone were delivered to the school. Despite heavy rain, preparations continued for the planned commencement of construction.

On 2 January 2021, excavation and foundation work began. Parents of the children contributed their own labour to the construction process, making them active participants in creating a better environment for their children. My wife and son also joined me and supported the work.

What had begun as a personal determination was gradually becoming a collective community effort.

Designing with the children in mind

We did not want the finished facility to feel like an ordinary institutional washroom.

Children with special needs can experience anxiety, discomfort or fear in unfamiliar environments. For that reason, we considered not only physical accessibility and hygiene, but also emotional comfort.

Colourful wall graphics featuring animals, butterflies, trees, nature and friendly characters were specially designed to transform the interior into a more cheerful and welcoming space. By 6 April 2021, these graphics had been brought to the school for installation as the project entered its final stage.

The work eventually extended beyond the sanitary facility itself, allowing us to give the Special Education classroom a renewed environment as well.

A dream completed – 9 April 2021

On 9 April 2021, the completed sanitary facility was finally handed over for the children's use.

The most meaningful part of that day was not the completion of a building. It was seeing the response of the children and their parents to a problem that had been part of their everyday lives.

Many friends and supporters contributed in different ways to make the project possible. Their collective support transformed an idea that began during an ordinary school visit into a practical facility that could improve the children's daily experience at school.

For me, this remains one of the projects that best represents what “Hadawathe Sihinaya” — a dream from the heart — came to mean: recognising a genuine need, carrying that thought with you, and eventually finding a way to turn it into something useful for another person.

Sometimes the most meaningful projects do not begin with a plan. They begin when someone else's difficulty becomes impossible for us to ignore.