Farmers in Trashigang, Bhutan, have been constructing toilets to practice skills they have learned while participating in a rural skills development project.

Under the project, 329 villagers from ten gewogs (blocks or village groups) in Trashigang district were trained in basic carpentry, masonry, plumbing and in-house electrical wiring. The trainees constructed two toilets in each gewog. Instructors said that toilets were chosen because building them required all the skills they had been taught.

Project officials said that many of the trainees were women, with 19 female trainees coming from two gewogs, Kanglung and Khaling, alone.

After the training, 70 trainees will be selected for four to five months' on-the-job-training in school construction projects. This is the second such project. Trainees from the first project also helped to construct a girl's dormitory at a school in Dawakha, Paro.

Related news: Bhutan: 'toilet revolution' has not led to high use, Source South Asia, 02 Sep 2008

Source: Tshering Palden, Kuensel Online, 04 Dec 2008

Tags: capacity development, on-site sanitation, south asia