When you wake up in the morning, after switching off your alarm, what is the first thing you do? Step into your slippers? Put on the kettle? Go to the toilet?
It’s all pretty normal stuff, stuff that we do every day and don’t give a second thought about. We all know that feeling, the one where you’re desperate for the loo but there’s a queue for the bathroom. Time comes to a standstill and you find yourself pacing back and forth outside the bathroom door, patiently waiting for the person inside to emerge. It’s more than just an inconvenience; it’s a genuine source of stress and discomfort. Now imagine waking up, and rather than there being a queue for the toilet, there isn’t a toilet at all. What do you do? Where do you go?
This is problem facing 2.4 billion men, women and children in the developing world every day. Today, 1 billion people worldwide will be denied one of their most basic human rights, the right to water and sanitation. They will wake up and have to face the very real indignity of defecating in the open, and in the process, put themselves at risk of catching a disease, or, as has been the case for many women and girls, becoming the victim of a sexual assault. Each year around 1.7 million children die as a result of contracting diseases as a result of poor sanitation, and all because they do not have access to a toilet. In 2013, the United Nations General Assembly officially designated November 19th as World Toilet Day. World Toilet Day is coordinated by UN-Water in collaboration with governments and partners. World Toilet Day aims to raise awareness of the global sanitation crisis and work towards creating a world in which everyone, everywhere, has access to a toilet by 2030.
On November 19th 2016, VANEL, in partnership with Anglian Water’s ‘Keep It Clear’ campaign will be holding a World Toilet Day event to raise awareness of this issue and help you to keep your drains and toilets in tip-top condition. The event will take place at People’s Park in Grimsby, from 11am until 2pm and is free to attend. We will be holding a Mummification and colouring contest, toilet roll ten pin bowling, photo booth and the launch of the O2 funded ‘Explorabubble’!
For more information about the event, contact Victoria at VANEL. Call: (01472) 231 123.
Email: Victoria@vanel.org.uk
Visit: www.worldtoiletday.info/
