Imagine this. Women and young girls, waking up before dawn, every day, leaving their homes while it is still dark and walking for a mile or so to find a remote or a secluded place. And all the while, hoping to stay away from any prying eyes as they finish their daily ablutions in the open.
With this act, they are not only adding to the estimated 100,000 tons of human excrement that Indians leave each day in farming fields, on river banks that are used for drinking and bathing and along roads jammed with scooters, trucks and pedestrians but also experience shame and embarrassment along with exposing themselves to a lot of diseases.
More than 200 million tons of human sewage goes uncollected and untreated, fouling the environment. Each gram of feces can contain 10 million virus particles, 1 million bacteria, 1,000 parasite cysts and 100 parasite eggs. The germs in the excreta contaminates the drinking water, food and soil and increases the number of flies and insects carrying excreta and spreading disease.
Open defecation and lack of sanitation are the leading causes for water-borne diseases like diarrhoea, cholera, dysentery, intestinal worms, trachoma, hepatitis A and typhoid and stunted growth in children. While over 300,000 children aged below five years in India die each year due to diarrhoeal diseases, 44% of children younger than 5 are underweight! Malnourished children have poor immunity and are more susceptible to diarrheal disease, and with more diarrheal disease they become more malnourished!
20% of deaths among children under-14 are due to diseases caused by poor sanitation and hygiene. In young girls, open defecation during menstruation causes a lot of health and hygiene issues viz reproductive tract infections and sexually transmitted infections. Almost 28 million school children across India do not have access to school toilet facilities. And this results in dropping out from schools by girls on reaching puberty, depriving them of opportunity to learn and grow in life and a hope for a bright future.
By stopping open defecation and improving sanitation, there will be lower mortality among children, better nutrition, reduced stunting and increased height among children, due to the reduction in diarrhoea and other life-threatening diseases. There will also be better learning and retention among school children due to reduction in worms and other sanitation related diseases.
By building toilets and ending open defecation, it can have a BIG effect on the health, safety, education, prosperity and dignity of a lot of children and women in India.
Domex has taken an initiative, which is called #ToiletForBabli to make villages in Maharashtra and Orissa open defecation free zones.
You can be a part of this noble initiative too!
Just visit http://www.domex.in/ and click on Contribute Now. For every Click- contribution received on this website, Domex will contribute Rs.5 for making villages open defecation free.
This post is written for Indiblogger.in and Domex #ToiletForBabli Initiative
20 Responses
Indeed a worthy cause. I was in Chicago once, I think it was, when the toilets in our hotel went crazy because of a water main or sewer break. Actually, any water came out brown – shower, sink, whatever. Not the best visit ever.
Quite like you to think of others, Shilpa. I’m glad to consider you a friend. 🙂
Gosh! That must be an awful experience! Thanks, LuAnn, you are a sweetheart ♥
I wish we can actually do something about it…through such campaigns and in any other way possible
We can, by blogging about and spreading awareness, by talking to our maids, by being associated with some local NGOs and visiting some villages/slums and of course by donating for the cause!
A good initiative by Domex, Shilpa and a good awareness post by you. Hope the cause serves its purpose and dignity is restored to all Bablis on this front.
Agree with you, hope this brings the much needed change in our society! Thank you, Asha!
Just like in USA, every gas station (petrol bunk) should be made to have a clean bathrooms for men and women – even if they don’t buy gas (petrol).
Agree, we badly need that in our country!
Very well expressed Shilpa. Toilets is the need of the hour to restore human dignity to lead a healthy life/
It is the most basic human right and imagine in the times we live, it is not accessible to so many people. Thanks Vishal!
I didn’t know of the statistics,but I knew that we need to do a lot to get system going.
There is need for awareness. Shouldnt it be made compulsory for TV channels carry at least two minutes per day of social messages?
Each citizen has a social responsibility towards society,which he/she must perform.
It is kind of sad that still so many people are unaware of these basics of health and sanitation. Yes, awareness is the key!
This is truly sad, reading those statistics, Shilpa. I approve of the Domex initiative. Hope more people are willing to do what it takes. Thank you for writing this post.
Agree. The Domex initiative will help people in villages live a dignified life and will save them from serious health and hygiene issues too.
A good initiative. Hope this helps spread awareness.
Toilets, education , health all go hand in hand.
Awareness is the key and hope this campaign is a big success.
This is just heartbreaking… I can’t even imagine it. 🙁 I’m glad there are organizations working to improve the situation and make things clean and safe.
Thnx for sharing this Shilpa… makes me relaise how we take certain things so much for granted!
A very good initiative by Domex.. We need this awareness and this campaign to clean up our country…
Such a sad but necessary post Shilpa. Good for you for writing about such a sensitive and important issue. I truly hope it brings more awareness and toliets for those who need it. <3