In an effort to improve physical health and educational environments, The Church of Jesus Christ of Latter-day Saints and Water for People presented the Nyenje Church of Uganda and Bishop East primary schools in Mukono, Uganda, with new restroom facilities, handwashing stations and waste incinerators on June 5, 2025.
The previous facilities were inadequate to serve the schools’ student populations, reported the Church’s Africa Newsroom.
“These structures have given the school a facelift,” said the head teacher of Nyenje Church of Uganda primary school. “This will help improve children’s health, and eventually their grades, as a healthy mind lives in a healthy body.”
Kampala Uganda North Stake President Frederick Kyambadde said these new facilities will help control common diseases that are caused by improper sanitation.
He said he was “filled with joy” to be among the recipients of these donations, and that many others’ faces were “wet with joy.”
This donation is about more than just hygiene, however.
According to one literature review, unsanitary and undignified washrooms can lead to disruptions in learning environments and even chronic absenteeism among students — especially young girls.
The review states improvements to school sanitation facilities have been linked to an 11% increase in girls’ school attendance.
“We hope that these facilities with a component of health, hygiene and management will keep the girl child in school and ensure that there is a reduced rate of absenteeism,” said a spokesperson from Water for People, a global nonprofit organization working to provide communities with access to clean water and dignified washrooms.
President Kyambadde said being part of this experience taught him about Christlike love and service.
“Jesus Christ taught us to reach out to those in need and show kindness to them, give hope to those who are hopeless.”
