Toilets save lives - WaterAid

Autumn/Winter 2016

Your WaterAid magazine

Toilets save lives

A proper loo for everyone everywhere

Hugh in India

Actor Hugh Bonneville talks toilets

Virtual reality in Nepal

See for yourself how you’re changing lives

For more stories and to join the conversation, visit www.wateraid.org or find us on YouTube, Facebook, Twitter and Instagram.

Dear WaterAid supporter, WaterAid/ Abir Abdullah

Toilets. We use them every day but rarely talk or even think about them. We just flush and forget. But you and I know that toilets are more than a convenience. They’re life savers. So how can we make sure everyone has an adequate toilet and stop almost 900 children dying every day from diarrhoeal diseases? Firstly, by breaking the silence. Those with the power to make change happen don’t like to talk about this preventable crisis. Few politicians want their political legacy to be toilets. This needs to change. Without toilets we can’t improve people’s health, education or economic security. So this issue of Oasis is all about the humble loo. How it changes people’s lives and how it has the power to change the world. When I see WaterAid’s work for myself, the people you’ve helped are

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Oasis Autumn/Winter 2016

so grateful to have a proper toilet. Your support puts a smile on their face and gives them hope that their dreams will come true. Last year, supporters like you joined our call for a Global Goal to reach everyone everywhere with clean water and proper toilets by 2030. And it worked! Governments around the world signed up to this ambitious target. But goals alone are not enough. We need to take action to make sure no one lives without this basic human right. We know it can be done. You’ll find a Toilets Save Lives petition postcard included with this magazine. You can be part of making sure world leaders do the right thing simply by completing it and popping it in the post. Thank you so much for your generous support. Together we can make this happen. And we must. Because toilets really do save lives. Happy reading.

Barbara Frost, Chief Executive

News in brief • This year, we’re celebrating 35 years of support from the UK water industry, which set WaterAid in motion back in 1981. We were deeply saddened to hear of the death of one of our founders, Maurice Lowther (pictured far left). Maurice was at the heart of WaterAid from the beginning. He will be sadly missed but his legacy lives on in our vision of everyone everywhere with clean water, sanitation and hygiene.

WaterAid

Welcome to Oasis

• Over 23,000 festival-goers signed our petition at a very muddy Glastonbury this year, telling the UK Government that Toilets Save Lives! Follow us on Facebook to be first to hear how you could join us at the festival in 2017.

Did you know? • Each copy of Oasis costs just 6p to produce plus P&P – we think it’s well worth it to share with you how your support is changing lives. However, if you’d prefer to hear about our work by email, please visit www.wateraid.org/uk/emailme • In every £1 we spend, 78p is spent on delivering services, campaigning for change and supporting other WaterAid member countries, and 22p on fundraising and governance. • For every £1 we spend on fundraising, we raise £5. WaterAid, 47-49 Durham Street, London SE11 5JD T: 020 7793 4594 Registered charity numbers 288701 (England and Wales) and SC039479 (Scotland) Cover image: Narsizu, seven, and Fideris, ten, outside their new toilet, Timor-Leste. Photo: WaterAid/ Tom Greenwood Crossword answers: Across 3 Defecation, 4 Periods, 6 Accessible, 8 Global, 11 Three, 12 Education, 13 Scouts, 14 Dignity. Down 1 Bonneville, 2 Sanitation, 3 Diarrhoea, 5 Forget, 7 Glastonbury, 9 Invest, 10 Hands. Oasis Autumn/Winter 2016

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India

WaterAid/ James McCauley

Inspired by Hugh’s trip? Run the streets of London, Berlin, Paris or Brighton in 2017, or sponsor a friend, and help change lives with safe toilets! www.wateraid.org/running

“Now I know the difference a toilet makes” Last summer, actor and WaterAid ambassador Hugh Bonneville travelled to India to see how toilets change everything. “Here in the UK, it’s easy for us to take toilets for granted. But during my trip to India I saw first-hand how much they impact on every aspect of life. Without toilets, an astounding 569 million people – 44% of the population – are forced to defecate in the open. Worldwide it’s 946 million. In Narai Ka Pura in Madhya Pradesh, a village without proper sanitation, I saw the barley fields where men, women and children relieve themselves – amid the crops they depend on for food. This unhygienic environment means deadly diseases spread fast. Relentless bouts of sickness keep people trapped in poverty, unable to work or support their families. Children are especially vulnerable. More than 140,000 die every year in India alone from preventable 4


diarrhoeal diseases, and many more suffer from the resulting malnutrition and effects that last their whole lives. Later in my trip, we visited Mahadev Pura, where supporters like you have provided access to improved sanitation and safe water, making an astonishing difference. Schoolchildren showed me games that teach them about hygiene, and the headteacher told me absenteeism through sanitationrelated illnesses is a thing of the past. These kids have brighter futures simply because they now have loos and clean water. It was overwhelming to witness the difference a toilet can make. Surely it is unacceptable that millions of people still do not have this basic necessity. Clean water and sanitation transform lives; it really is that simple.”

Pradeep, ten, shows Hugh where he and his friends go to the toilet, Narai Ka Pura village, Madhya Pradesh, India.


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Help us shout loud and proud, “Toilets save lives!” Please return your campaign postcard today.

Campaigns

Why the big focus on toilets?

Many thousands of you were part of making this happen through our Everyone Everywhere 2030 campaign – and we know from your messages how keen you are to see governments follow up with action. In September, we’ll be calling on the UK Government to do just this – to build on their promise with a plan. Please make your voice heard by completing and returning the Toilets Save Lives petition postcard enclosed.

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WaterAid/ Ernest Randriarimalala

In the last issue of Oasis, we celebrated the signing of Global Goal 6 – committing governments around the world to provide universal access to taps and toilets in the next 15 years.

Stephen Fisher

Stephen Fisher showing his support for the Global Goal on water and sanitation

The predecessors to the Global Goals, the Millennium Development Goals (MDGs), aimed to halve extreme poverty by the end of 2015. But when they were signed in 2000 there was no mention of sanitation at all. A target to halve the number of people living without safe toilets was added later, after lobbying by WaterAid and others. Although the water MDG target was met, not enough was done to improve access to toilets, and consequently the sanitation target was missed by 700 million people. This time around, it has to be different – help make sure governments get over their reluctance to talk toilets and make sanitation a priority from the beginning, reaching everyone everywhere. Jean Fernand Ratsitohaina, 33, headteacher, showing the inside of the new school sanitation block, Ankazobe district, Madagascar. Oasis Autumn/Winter 2016

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Find the answers to more of your questions at www.wateraid.org/faqs

Q&A

Your questions answered Why do people still not have toilets after all these years of international aid? 2.3 billion people, one in three, still do not have access to a safe, private toilet, and over 900 million have no choice but to defecate in the open. The results are deadly, killing almost 900 children every day. Progress has been made. Since 1990, aid has helped 2.1 billion people get access to a better toilet. So why are so many still living without a loo? Sanitation continues to be underfunded in developing countries. It’s often not seen as a priority, compared to health or education for example. Politicians usually find it easier to talk about hospitals and schools than they do about toilets. It’s not just about the amount of funding but also how it is spent. If toilets are built without investment in promoting behaviour change they can fall into disuse, because people don’t understand their benefits and are not 8


motivated to use and maintain them. Similarly, if toilets are built that don’t suit the local context, they are likely to fail. Aid needs to be directed at helping to improve the whole sanitation chain, including transportation or storage, treatment, and disposal or re-use, to make sure human waste is safely managed. Reaching everyone everywhere means including even the most marginalised people – that’s why WaterAid makes sure services benefit the poorest and most remote people, and can be used by anyone. International aid needs to be targeted in the same way. Thanks to your support, we work hard to influence governments and funding institutions to invest more aid and to spend it better, so that everyone everywhere can have a safe, private toilet.

Filomena Laranjeira Da Costa, 23, has no access to a proper toilet so has no choice but to use this area of long grass, Manufahi district, Timor-Leste.

WaterAid/ Tom Greenwood

We answer your most common questions about water, toilets and hygiene – and explain how your support is helping reach everyone everywhere by 2030.


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To help more families like Jérémie’s, it’s easy to give online at www.wateraid.org/lifesaver

Thanks to supporters like you so generously giving to our Toilets Save Lives appeal, families like Jérémie’s in Burkina Faso are building proper toilets to keep them safe and healthy.

WaterAid/ Basile Ouedraogo

A mason puts the finishing touches to Jérémie Ouedraogo’s latrine, Ouagadougou, Burkina Faso.

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What is virtual reality? Imagine watching a film where you are at the centre of the action. Put on your headset and look up, down and all around.

To order your free cardboard virtual reality headset (for use with a smartphone) and see how you’re changing lives, visit www.wateraid.org/aftershock

Step inside the story

WaterAid/ Catherine Feltham

It’s a day like any other. You get up and prepare to go to work. Then, out of nowhere, there’s a deafening sound like a helicopter. But it’s not a helicopter, it’s an earthquake. Who knows how long it goes on for. Your house is now a pile of rubble and your water source destroyed. As the only plumber in your community, fixing it is down to you. Without action, disease will spread quickly and the nightmare will just be beginning. This is Krishna’s story. In 2015, two violent earthquakes brought destruction to Nepal. 9,000 people were killed. Those who survived have faced a long

struggle to rebuild their lives and their communities. With support from the HSBC Water Programme, we’re using cutting edge technology to bring Krishna’s story direct to you. In this virtual reality documentary, you’ll experience life in the hilltops of Kharelthock, Nepal, in astonishing 360⁰ detail – and see how critical your support is, as you join us in repairing the community’s water system.

Our five-year partnership with HSBC has reached more than a million people with safe water and almost two million with sanitation. The programme provided vital support for the Nepal earthquake recovery. 12 Oasis Autumn/Winter 2016


Are you or is someone you know part of a Scout Group? Find out how you can help reach everyone everywhere with taps and toilets at www.wateraid.org/uk/scouts Photos: WaterAid/ Ernest Randriarimalala

Hannah Kentish, left, and Rebecca Alexander, right, join Madagascan Scouts spreading hygiene awareness in the local community.

Madagascan Scout, Julianna, in Sabotsy Anjiro, Madagascar. 14 Oasis Autumn/Winter 2016

Scouting for lifesaving toilets Scouts from across the UK have committed to support WaterAid as part of their A Million Hands campaign. Earlier this year, three Scouts travelled to Madagascar to see how Scouts there are changing lives with toilets. WaterAid works alongside the Scout Movement in Madagascar to spread hygiene messages and campaign for water and toilets for all. Jack Abrey, 19, Hannah Kentish, 23, and Rebecca Alexander, 23, met Madagascan Scouts like Julianna, 17. Julianna said, “I like to be a Scout because I learn a lot. I’m now an educator so I like to teach others.” Together, they helped pass on lifesaving messages about using proper toilets and handwashing to the community of Sabotsy Anjiro, through performances and demonstrations at a ‘Dobodoboka’, or festival, on a busy market day, when people gathered from miles around. They also added their voices to a call for the Government of Madagascar to invest more in water, sanitation and hygiene, meeting the local mayor to discuss his commitment to improve access to these basic facilities in his

area, and speaking to journalists to highlight the issue at a national level. Hannah Kentish, UK Youth Commissioner at The Scout Association, said, “It was inspiring to see the Scouts working so effectively with WaterAid in Madagascar to transform lives by educating people about good sanitation and hygiene, as well as advocating for more investment in clean water and toilets. They really are at the heart of the community, and it was clear to see they are well-trusted by adults and children alike, meaning they could use their influence to help drive change.” Julianna added, “Today, we taught people to wash their hands with soap and water, to use proper toilets, and to drink safe water. They responded very positively and even took part in our campaign. I’m really feeling glad to have changed people’s everyday lives.” Oasis Autumn/Winter 2016 15

See more of the girls’ pictures and find out how period taboos affect their everyday lives at www.wateraid.org/uk/nepalphotoproject

Menstrual hygiene

Snapshots of life without loos Not having access to an adequate toilet affects everyone – but women and teenage girls in particular. Together with the stigma that surrounds periods in Nepal, the lack of proper toilets affects girls’ health and wellbeing every month – many skip school during their period or drop out completely due to the shame and embarrassment they feel. 16 Oasis Autumn/Winter 2016

Sushma, 15, who took this photo, said, “This is the girls’ toilet of our school. It doesn’t lock properly so if someone is inside, another girl has to wait outside pushing the door for her. Because of the lack of latrines in our school, we have to wait in a long line. We need more girl-friendly toilets.”

WaterAid/ Sushma

In a small rural village in Sindhuli, Nepal, 15-year-old Sushma and her friends have been using cameras for the very first time to share their own stories. Their pictures reveal the challenges they face in managing their periods safely, hygienically and privately.


Puzzles and prizes Across spreads 3. Open disease. 4. Girls and women need toilets to manage what? 6. Toilets need to be this for people with disabilities. 8. We need a plan to reach Goals. the people 11. One in don’t have a proper toilet. 12. Toilets help kids get . an 13. Who is always prepared to save lives in Madagascar? 14. Toilets give this to people.

EMU Australia has teamed up with WaterAid to help 19 of the world’s poorest communities get a clean water supply for the very first time. Sales of their all-natural footwear and accessories will help change the lives of more than 5,000 people in Papua New Guinea and Timor-Leste. For your chance to win a pair of Waterproof4WaterAid boots, just answer:

Plus get 40% discount at www.emuaustralia.com/uk online by quoting WATER40PART until 30 November. Jonathon, eight, at his new school toilets, Barakau, Papua New Guinea.

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WaterAid/ Tom Greenwood

What is the largest body of freshwater in the UK? Email your answer to [email protected] by 30 September.

Down , actor who 1. Hugh visited our work in India. 2. A basic human right. 3. What kills almost 900 children every day? 5. We take toilets for granted, . we just flush and 7. We talked toilets at which festival this summer? 9. Governments must in sanitation. 10. Washing what with soap can reduce the risk of diarrhoea by 50%?

Crossword Put your feet up with a cuppa made from safe, clean water and have a go at our toilet-themed crossword. The answers can all be found in the pages of Oasis.

Answers on page three.


This year, you’ve helped reach almost two million people with clean water more than three million people with life-saving toilets

WaterAid/ Alexia Webster

You’re amazing, thank you!

Charity registration numbers: England and Wales 288701, Scotland SC039479

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