Ten Thousand Toilets Is Not Enough

One of the first questions that real estate agents broach upon meeting a potential buyer or seller is “How many bathrooms do you need” or “… do you have,” as the case may be.

As commonplace as that may be for most reading this article, the World Health Organization (WHO) estimates that 4.5 billion people “either have no toilet at home or (have) one that doesn’t safely manage excreta.”

Think for a moment. Let that number sink in. That is about 60% of the total global population. While Americans and most of the western world are flush with adequate, even fancy commodes and sanitary wastewater systems, nearly two-thirds of the people on this planet do not have access to the convenience of a proper toilet facility.

It is estimated that nearly a billion of those with limited or no access to private or public toilet facilities practice open defecation. That is, they must find a place to go, whether it is in an open field, near a bush, along roadsides and railways, or in some corner away from the crowd.

It is not a matter of people not desiring or feeling a need for privacy. It is simply that facilities do not exist for the safe disposal of human excrement. Nor do the impoverished have the means to build a private facility whether inside or outside of their home.

Gospel for Asia Strives to Improve Sanitation

Think of this not merely as a problem but as a daily problem for 60 percent of the world. GFA is participating with the likes of the United Nations, the World Health Organization, national, regional and local governments, and non-governmental agencies to work toward eliminating this demoralizing, demeaning, and dangerous sanitary problem.

Gospel for Asia just recently released a nearly 4,000-word Special Report entitled Saving Lives at Risk from Open Defecation Using Outdoor Toilets to Improve Sanitation. In it we research and detail many of the problems that are being addressed by various organizations, including GFA, with solutions aimed at resolving this primary concern for so many people.

In 2016 alone, Gospel for Asia helped to construct more than 10,500 toilets, providing healthier, more sanitary conditions for those previously exposed to the menace of open defecation. But we have no time to rest on our laurels or give ourselves a pat on the back. Ten thousand toilets is not enough to make a serious dent in the problem. We have helped but we need to continue to help and we need to do more to rescue families from poverty and bring Christ’s love to them. Toilets provide dignity, safety, health, enable education and empower communities.


Click here, to read more about this article.

Click here, to read more blogs on Patheos from Gospel for Asia.

Comments

Post a Comment

Popular posts from this blog

Generational Poverty: A Cycle Not Worth Repeating

Image
The cycle of generational poverty can seem impossible to break. Children inherit what their parents teach and show them. a joint report from Ascend: The Aspen Institute and Bernard van Leer Foundation affirms this. “What young children learn from the adults who raise and care for them lays the foundation for future social, emotional, language, and cognitive growth,” the report says. 1 Children raised in a generational poverty mindset often lack the tools they need to succeed or achieve a better life than that of their parents. As adults, these individuals often then raise their children in poverty similar to that of their own childhoods, and the cycle perpetuates. It’s a cycle not worth repeating, yet it does time and time again. For the 736 million people worldwide living below the poverty line, earning $1.90 a day or less, the focus is frequently on mere survival. 2 Children are disproportionately affected by extreme poverty, says UNICEF, as “children who grow up impoverished often...
Read more

What Is the Poverty Cycle?

Image
The question, “What is the poverty cycle, or cycle of poverty?” is one that must be answered to address and end poverty across the globe. Put simply, the term refers to the trend where the vicious effects of poverty and deprivation pass from one generation to the next, with no seeming way out. [1] Someone born into poverty has fewer opportunities than their wealthier peers. They must focus on survival above all, leaving little room for anything else. One illness can wipe out a family’s savings, but the unclean water sources and lack of protection available to them invite sickness. Walking to retrieve water can be time-consuming yet must be a daily priority, and many children must work alongside their parents for the family to afford food. Thus, school is often a far-off dream. Having had few opportunities to acquire skills, the kids grow up to repeat the cycle of poverty with their own children. This story was all too familiar for Nalah. His father worked in the tea fields, trying to e...
Read more

What Do I Need to Know about the Global Poverty Rate?

Image
Statisticians are getting better at measuring the global poverty rate every year. The World Bank is one group working hard to accurately measure it so that the extent of the problem is fully known and so that progress can be measured. [1] Through governments and non-governmental organizations (NGOs), we can more clearly see the last decade of progress and the most recent effects driving poverty rates. Sub-Saharan Africa has been one area difficult to measure, but new data shows an overall reduction in the percentage of those in poverty. Unfortunately, there is an increase in total number of people living at or below the official poverty rate of $1.90 per day. [2] That doesn’t mean that all hope is lost. With good statistics and a clear view of the problem, countries and organizations can use the proven methods to regain any ground lost. Additionally, valuable lessons have been learned about how to protect the most vulnerable and how to prevent some of the worst effects. GFA World is un...
Read more