Last year, we twinned out toilet with another in Giharo, Rutana Province, Burundi.
They sent us a framed photo of their thunderbox, which I contemplate as I thunder on mine.
And apparently today is World Toilet Day, which I will celebrate by reposting this infographic, complete with details of how you can twin your toilet too.
Go on, it makes evacuation of the bowel so much more satisfying!
We have had a lovely Christmas. Today we bought the last of our presents.
We twinned our downstairs loo with a latrine in Burundi, courtesy of Cord and Tearfund.
And we bought two other gifts from Oxfam Unwrapped–
A chicken (perhaps we can ‘twin’ this with one of ours too…)
And fertiliser (twinned with our compost bin? Or am I getting a bit twin-happy now?)
Before Christmas I wrote here about how we had asked our friends to think about NOT giving us a present this year- and many of them gave us money towards these gifts.
I should say that some still gave us gifts as well- and these were lovely too! Some people are so generous…
But the gifts above- they are a double blessing.
A flush of blessing.
A clucking blessing.
And a whole dung pile of a blessing.
Who knows how these things pan out (sorry- the puns kind of write themselves don’t they?) in places a long way from here. I only hope that there will be a little flicker of grace in a place much in need of some.
Because there is much grace in the giving…
My mate Simon told me about this the other day- in response to a conversation about alternative Christmas presents…
International charities Cord and Tearfund have linked up to bring you Toilet Twinning: a unique way to help transform lives in poor communities across the world.
Since the launch of Toilet Twinning in 2008, more than 1,500 latrines have been built in Burundi – providing safe loos for at least 9,000 people! So… squat’s it all about?
There’s a serious message here though-
up a stink
It’s out of order! 1 in 3 people across the world don’t have somewhere safe to go to the toilet. Bad sanitation is one of the world’s biggest killers: it hits women, children, old and sick people hardest. Every minute, three children under the age of five die because of dirty water and poor sanitation. And, right this minute, around half the people in the world have an illness caused by bad sanitation.
Women and girls suffer most
In Africa, half of young girls who drop out of school do so because they need to collect water – often from many miles away – or because the school hasn’t got separate toilets for boys and girls. Not having a loo puts people at risk of being bitten by snakes as they squat in the grass and makes women and girls a target for sexual assault as they go to the toilet in the open.
Big job
We must do what we can to make a difference.
Providing people with clean water and basic sanitation is one of the most cost-effective ways to release people from poverty: for every £1 spent on water and sanitation, £8 is returned through saved time, increased productivity and reduced health costs.
Missing the target
In 2000, 189 countries from across the world signed up to the UN’s Millennium Development Goals. The plan was that we’d all work together to end extreme poverty by 2015. But little action means some targets will be missed by DECADES. If we carry on like this, it’s predicted we won’t hit the sanitation target in sub-Saharan Africa until the 23rd century.
So if anyone wants to buy us a toilet twin for our downstairs loo, I will forever more poo with pride!
this fragile tent 