Private Lives - World Toilet Day November 19th 2010
Here at the Global Ethics office we are facing a number of lavatorial challenges. Firstly the boys and the girls have shared loos so the men have been forced to hone their accuracy and the ladies must speed on through the various tasks at hand in the dual interest of efficiency and queue minimisation. The second challenge is picking us off one by one and as soon as we let our guard down "bang" what was supposed to be a private ritual becomes at once something of public spectacle. It might be that this particular issue will bring us all closer over time under the oxymoronic veil of Public Intimacy but the real value is that it offers us all a glimpse of the minor humiliations millions of people endure on a day to day basis across the world. Let me explain....
Friday 19th November 2010 is World Toilet Day which gives us all an opportunity to reflect on our own good fortunes. Access to hygienic toilet facilities is something we all take for granted. The privilege to perform our ablutions in a clean, functional and comfortable environment is something we shouldn't take lightly. In fact it was only 160 years ago when the first flush-able toilets were introduced at The Great Exhibition in Hyde Park, London. The queue to use the newfangled toilet numbered 800, such was the fascination and excitement surrounding the launch - imagine if you actually needed to go!. These days we nonchalantly press the flush button without a second thought and all our waste miraculously disappears down the tube.
The human requirement for privacy might not be as acute as the need for hygiene but in the interests of self esteem, it is important to cling on to any semblance of dignity society can provide. The same goes for the vast majority of communities across the globe where all feel we should have the right to take a rain check, powder their nose or see a man about a dog in seclusion and privacy safe from the fear of interruption. Many children, especially the girls, is Sub Saharan Africa simply refuse to attend school classes because there are no clean and private sanitation facilities available. Suddenly, an individual choice forced through circumstance leads to a greater societal concern as more children miss out on an invaluable education with inevitable ramifications for their communities.
Global Ethics, as you may know, fund a range of sanitation projects through our sales of One Toilet Tissue across UK retailers. The benefits are immediate and permanent and the sanitation blocks don't cost a fortune to build. To celebrate and raise awareness of World Toilet Day we implore all of you to seek out our One loo roll on the shelves in the larger UK stores of Sainsburys, Morrisons, Coop and most recently Waitrose and help us fund the numerous projects we have on the go at the moment. Not all stores stock the One brand so apologies if you cannot find us on shelf. Without your tremendous advocacy and purchasing power at the tills, we wouldn't be able to achieve what we do in Africa nor would we be able to create a strong case to convince our retail partners to extend our listings and make One branded products universally available.
Just getting back to the second lavatorial challenge we face here in the office regarding public intimacy, well quite simply we have a very temperamental lock on one of the loos. Just when you are sure it is safely locked and secured, the door flies open and in stomps an erstwhile less intimate colleague hoping to use the facilities. Apparently the technique is to lean with all your weight against the door and swiftly twist the lock home. In the extremes of blocking this unwanted insurgency, you do of course present yourself with the reverse challenge on exit, actually trying to get out again without pressing the panic button. In summary, I am not sure what is more embarrassing, being the interloper or the sitter, but what is certain is that you would both rather prefer that it never happened. Why should it have to be different for anyone else from any community across the world? World Toilet Day Friday 19th November 2010 - get buying!.
About the Author
I’m an incurable optimist who naively believes that today can be better than yesterday and tomorrow better than today. I guess it’s what unites of all us who are involved with One either as employees or supporters. My jumbled interests include wine, cycling, Spanish, trees, family, seafood, Cole Porter musicals, dogs and etymology. As a blogger I aim to please and tease and encourage all to make a difference.
