Happy World Toilet Day!

November 19th is World Toilet Day. According to an article that I read on allafrica.com, The World Toilet Organisation introduced this day 12 years ago to create awareness and gather support for poor sanitation conditions around the world. 2.5 billion people are without access to private and sanitary toilet conditions, and sub-Saharan Africa is noted as an area in need. Government officials and other lawmakers don't like to talk about private matters, especially when they are as gross and embarrassing as this.

Basically, this day was created to spread awareness about a sensitive and embarrassing subject that nobody wants to talk about. By doing so, communities can get involved and citizens can speak out- as well as get educated about how conditions can be improved without spending large amounts of money. For example, did you know that washing your hands with ash is a good way to disinfect? This advice can save lives. The article states that poor sanitation causes diarrheal diseases, which kill more kids than HIV/AIDS, measles and malaria combined. According to the UN, sanitation is a basic human right. With the right amount of education, awareness and determination, the government may be more willing to help.

This article caught my attention because I've never heard of World Toilet Day. Toilets are something we all take for granted, and the struggles of those 2.5 billion people without access to them haven't been publicized. We see plenty of humanitarian commercials on TV that ask us to donate to starving children, save beaten dogs, and help support the poor for "just pennies a day", but nothing about this (until now). In class, we learned about the AIDS and malaria epidemics- so how could a problem that causes the loss of so many more lives than those diseases go unnoticed?

 

Check out this video of Jack Sim (founder of World Toilet Organisation)

 

For more information on how you can help, visit http://worldtoilet.org/wto/.

"I give a sh!t, do you?"