World Toilet Day - November 19

I know that it is not common to talk about our personal hygeniene methods and toilet talk but on World Toilet Day - it's quite OK. Did you know that their are 2.6 billion people worldwide who do not have a toilet and 1.2 billion who defecate outside. Not only is it unhygenic but it can also lead to the spread of serious disease. And have you ever had to squat over a whole in the ground to perform you daily functions. I can attest to the fact that it is not the most pleasant experience, especially when you have bad knees as I do.

And imagine those living in the meg-slums in our world - in Kibera and Mathare slums in Nairobi or the slums of India and Brazil. Here there are only a few public bathrooms. Sewage runs in ditches throughout the slums. Imagine the fear of women who have to use public facilities only to be raped on the way to and from the toilets. Even when our HIV positive friends tell their rapists they are HIV positive, the men don't really care and rape anyway. So instead, some of the women must perform their duties in their one room shacks in front of their grown children - imagine the loss of dignity these women experience. And not to mention getting hit by a flying toilet - a most disgusting event. When people do their business indoors, they bag their feces in plastic bags and hurl them out their doors. Unsuspecting individuals walking by can be hit by these "flying toilets" which often break open covering the person hit.

In Wongonyi Village, Kenya most of the homes do not have bathrooms or if they do they are not in good condition, much like the original pit latrine at the Mdawida home in the top photo. After having attended a Water and Sanitation Workshop (led by the CAWST - Centre for Affordable Water and Sanitation Technology) teaching Biosand Water Filters and proper pit latrines, Ronnie taught local youth to build proper pit latrines. You can see in the next two photos the beautiful new pit latrine they built prior to our visit in 2008. A proper western style bathroom with adequate ventilation meant that local families could now exercise proper personal hygiene.

On World Toilet Day we are trying to raise awareness of the importance of proper toilet use and techniques which in turn leads to improved health, and less days away from work and school because of illness. For more information on World Toilet Day, check out the website http://www.worldtoilet.org/