Thank your John

Don’t take toilets for granted

While toilets may not be glamorous to discuss, having access to them can be a matter of life or death.

The global sanitation crisis is one we don’t often think about — and we certainly shy from discussing it in a public setting. It’s easy to take latrines for granted.

Globally, however, one in four people lack access to safe, clean, and dignified toilets. How many people is that? That’s 1.7 billion people who don’t have access to safe and dignified sanitation, i.e., a bathroom or latrine.

Human waste contains dangerous pathogens that infiltrate the groundwater and contaminate water sources, causing illnesses such as E. coli, cholera and dysentery. Children are especially susceptible to these.

World Toilet Day is an annual observance on Nov. 19 to bring awareness to the crucial role toilets play in managing human waste. Established by the United Nations, World Toilet Day prompts us to become familiar with the environmental and health effects of poor sanitation.

The lack of access to safe water and a working toilet can be devastating. Every two minutes, a child under the age of 5 dies from a preventable waterborne disease.

Understanding the risks associated with unsafe water, hygiene and sanitation systems are the first step to creating change in the communities suffering from lack of access.

Arkansans can take action to aid in the accessibility of dignified latrines — i.e., sanitation, safe water, and improved hygiene — by partnering with Lifewater International. Visit www.lifewater.org for more information.

In 2020, Lifewater International relocated our headquarters from California to Bentonville and are grateful to be a part of the vibrant, caring Northwest Arkansas community. Providing access to safe water, and improved sanitation and hygiene, one village at a time is essential to Lifewater International’s mission.

This year, we are celebrating our 45th year of serving the most vulnerable. In 2016, we began our Vision of a Healthy Village program, which focuses on empowering those we serve to create thriving villages and lasting sustainable transformation. This year we are looking to graduate 68,000 people from this program.

Since our incorporation, we have served over 3 million people.

Core to who we are as an organization is walking alongside local communities to empower them to be a part of their own solution when it comes to safe water, sanitation, and hygiene. We exist to not only facilitate this work, but also to raise awareness of these issues locally and globally. A key component to this holistic approach is, of course, creating access to safe and dignified bathroom environments for people in rural villages.

This World Toilet Day, take a moment to appreciate your porcelain throne and the unexpected ways it keeps you safe.

Join the effort to flush out unsafe sanitation by visiting the Lifewater International website to learn more or donate. A small gift can save lives and restore dignity.