November 19th is World Toilet Day
Focus Is On Deadly Global Sanitation Crisis
The toilet may not be first on your list of celebratory causes. But every year, water and sanitation-related disease kills 1.8 million children – one child every 15 seconds. World Toilet Day, Monday November 19, raises awareness of the more than two billion people without access to basic sanitation in the developing world.
“World Toilet Day brings attention to a hidden, but vital aspect of disease and death in the developing world,” said Gary White, executive director of WaterPartners International (www.water.org), a non-profit that delivers clean water and sanitation systems to the developing world. “There is a huge sanitation and hygiene education crisis, but the problem is not too large to solve.”
Without access to adequate facilities and hygiene education, open spaces or bodies of water become the primary toilet areas. Children are extremely susceptible to viruses and bacteria, but their risk is easily and dramatically reduced with simple, low-cost toilets. WaterPartners works with groups in South Asia, Africa and Central America to provide access to sanitation and hygiene education.
“Providing these valuable, but simple assets to a community greatly impacts not just the overall health, but the standard of living within a community,” said Mrs J. Geetha, head of Gramalaya in Tiruchirapalli , India , one of WaterPartners’ local partner organizations. Geetha is a former recipient of a toilet from Gramalaya. “That is why we’ve been working with WaterPartners to improve the lives of our people and help them build a stable foundation for their children’s futures.”
Gramalaya’s Center for Toilet Technology and Training is believed to be the first of its kind anywhere in the world. WaterPartners helped the Gramalaya organization build the center to teach local villagers how to construct “no cost” toilets with local materials, as well as providing more upscale models for families who can afford them. The center bolsters understanding of the link between sanitation, hygiene and good health through access to education.
World Toilet Day Facts
· An average person visits the toilet 2,500 times a year. About 6-8 times a day.
· You spend about three years of your life on the toilet.
· Contrary to popular lore, Thomas Crapper didn’t invent the toilet. Seated toilets with drainage systems date back to 2500 B.C. The flush toilet was invented in 1596 by John Harrington.
· Inadequate sanitation is a worldwide problem. 2.6 billion people in the world lack access to improved sanitation – nearly half the world’s population.
· For children under age five, water-related diseases are the leading cause of death in developing countries.
· Find out how you can help today by going to www.water.org.
About WaterPartners International
WaterPartners International is a U.S.-based non-profit organization that provides safe drinking water and sanitation to people in developing countries. Since its inception in 1990, WaterPartners has transformed more than 200 communities in Bangladesh, El Salvador , Ethiopia , Honduras , Guatemala , India , Kenya , and the Philippines with access to safe water and sanitation. By forging partnerships with carefully-screened partner organizations and offering innovative financing methods through its WaterCredit Initiative, WaterPartners empowers local communities to develop and sustain solutions to their own water needs. Learn more and make a difference at www.water.org.
