Simple sanitation

Many would think the toilet is a strange thing to celebrate, but Saturday (19 Nov) is World Toilet Day and there's a lot to be said for the dunny.

Did you know for example that 2.6 billion people still don't have access to a toilet, and do their business in latrines or out in the the open? Can you imagine life without toilets? The mess, the smell, the disease?

World Toilet Day aims to break the taboo about the loo and raise awareness of the the fact that billions suffer from poor sanitation.

Oxfam wants to end needless deaths by stopping outbreaks of cholera and diarrhoea (90% of all deaths from diarrhoea are children under 5) and teaching people the importance of wwashign their hands and hygiene. We work with communities across the Pacific and Southeast Asia to improve water supply, sanitation, hygiene and management of water resources. Such improvements reduce child mortality and improve health and nutritional status (acute diarrhoea contributes to malnutrition) in a sustainable way.

You can take action too. With our gift of a poo map, you will help a community in poverty become healthier. On a map of the village, each person is asked to mark where they 'go to the toilet'. Too often the community discovers that they have been 'pooing' near food and water sources. After this disturbing lesson, families are ready to improve their hygiene and, with a little help, construct toilets.