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World Toilet Day is celebrated on 19th November every year. It’s all about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis and help achieve Sustainable Development Goal 6 (SDG 6), which promises sanitation for all by 2030. World Toilet Day 2019 is drawing attention to those people being left behind without sanitation. The theme for this year is Leaving No One Behind. 

To make sure we are ‘Leaving No One Behind’, WaterWide held a Toilet Conversation with secondary school students across 3 states and the FCT to commemorate #WorldToiletDay.

 

Plateau State:

To commemorate world toilet day slated for every year on the 19th of November, Plateau State WaterWide chapter visited Government Secondary School Township in Jos metropolis to have a sensitization session with its staff and students. The school has together both secondary, primary and nursery section in the same compound or environment.

Waterwide conducted the sensitization session with the secondary session which lasted for about 55minutes. An approximate total of 200 students attended the session, 60% of this population are girls age from 11-19 years of age.

We discussed, demonstrated and illustrated the following :

– Toilet Hygiene

– Proper Hand Washing Techniques

– Proper Menstrual Hygiene.

Questions were asked by the students during and after the session ended. They include :

– How do I make sure the germs under my nails are thoroughly removed and the nail and fingers kept clean during and after washing my hands with soap and water?

Response: try as much as you can to always keep your nails as short as possible so it doesn’t become a hiding place for germs and bacteria. And the technique of washing the nails and fingers while washing the hands was demonstrated.

 

– Which is better to do? Rinse hands with running water or with still water?

Response: proper way to rinse hand is by running water.

Waterwide Plateau Chapter conducted an investigation on the kind of toilet used by the school. And the following was observed:

-Toilet Hygiene is terribly poor as seen in the male and female student toilet. The environment is not friendly to use and it’s obvious the environment is contaminated and infested with bacterial and all kinds of germs because of the poor hygiene practices.

– There is no direct and immediate source of water within the toilet vicinity of both staff and students’ toilets. They have to walk miles of about 100 to fetch water and store in the drums situated within the toilet area for use.

– Toilet are not properly flushed after use nor is the entire environment clean, as it’s dominated by flies and stinky foul smell that chokes the nose and makes it hard to breathe freely and fresh air.

It is obvious that the school suffers from continual inadequacy of water to meet sanitary and drinking purposes as there is only one functional borehole to tend to both the secondary, primary and nursery section. So the borehole is always overcrowded.

Also, because of the population of the school, more toilets needs to be built and it should meet quality standards.

 

Plea To The Government, Local, Private And Foreign Aid Organizations And Other Relevant Stakeholders:

In order to tag along with the processes and efforts leading to achieving the Sustainable Development Goals 6 (SDG6) by 2030 which is access to adequate and equitable sanitation and hygiene for all and end open defecation, paying special attention to the needs of women and girls and those in vulnerable situations, it is of utmost importance that more funds should be fueled into this area (WASH) and funds budgeted and dispensed for Water Sanitation and Hygiene (WASH)  should be duly implemented, monitored and evaluated to meet quality and quantity standards.

Every penny meant for Water Sanitation and Hygiene should be accounted for. This means the implementation process needs rigid, sensitive, thorough and unapologetic monitoring so funds meant to improve and save lives are not diverted into private pockets.

A guaranteed healthy people today is an Assured wealthy nation Tomorrow.


Yobe State

In an all girls school in Yobe state, Government Girls Day Junior Secondary School Damaturu, Our Toilet Conversation took a great turn as girls had keen interest in the relationship between the Toilet and their Menstrual Hygiene.

We sensitised them on proper hand washing technique, menstrual hygiene and the dos and donts of toilet to keep safe from contracting toilet infections,virginal infection and other related diseases.


Kaduna state

Our Kaduna State Chapter chaired a Toilet Conversation with students and staff of Rimi college Tafawa Balewa way Kaduna, We had an engaging session discussing
1. Toilet hygiene
2. Proper hand washing skills.
Students were eager to ask pressing question, and our team were happy to provide the right answers.
We are indeed Leaving No One behind.