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#WorldToiletDay: Here’s What It’s Like To Live Without One
Today is World Toilet Day, a chance to think about the billions of people in the world who don’t have toilets. People like me.
I grew up in an informal settlement in Kenya in the 1970s. When nature called, my only option was to visit the community toilets. These were toilets you squat over. You’d pour in water but there was no flush. And they were housed in a shed.
To get there, I had to walk 10 minutes, stand in the queue for my turn and be vigilant about my safety. At crowded times, like in the morning and evening, I might have to wait 10 minutes. The people in line would be dancing to keep from peeing and complaining about how the people using the toilets were taking too long.
In sum, a toilet was a facility I could only access with great difficulty.
It was also filthy. The toilets were never cleaned. One had to master special maneuvers to avoid messing oneself with human waste found inside. Since there was no toilet paper, people would wipe their hands on the walls. If you were wearing a sweater, you learned to remove it before entering — or else the stench would stick with you. And for this experience, I had to pay a shilling per visit, money that was not available readily.
There was nothing worse than getting an upset stomach due to bad food or water. This meant visiting the toilet many times in a day.
I say “day” because, for a girl, visiting the toilet at night can be very risky. Walking in the dark gives men opportunities to prey on young girls — to molest or rape them. My friends and I were terrified of this possibility and never ventured out between dusk and dawn.
So how did we cope?
We developed several strategies over time. We avoided drinking water at all costs, which of course is not healthy. Sometimes we would go to a restaurant and pretend to be waiting for a friend to have an excuse to use the toilet. Then we would leave when the friend couldn’t make it after all. Another option was to visit a church compound that had a toilet and pretend we had come for prayers. We also would use a plastic shopping bag, especially at night, and throw it in the morning to wherever it will land. This is known as the flying toilet.
You might think the toilets would be better in school, but they were not. The facilities were horrible. For safety reasons and privacy, one girl had to stand guard at the doorway for another to use the toilet. Toilet paper was a status symbol. If you had your own from home, you were considered advanced.
During menstruation, many girls would skip school to stay at home. If they soiled their clothes in front of their peers, there was no place to go and change. My friends and I would often miss two to three days each month just to avoid potential shame. Although this affected attendance and performance among girls, I don’t remember this issue being addressed by the school. It was seen as normal, and no effort was made to help the girls catch up with the lessons they had missed. This was the time that many girls dropped out. I stayed in school, but it was not easy.
In order for a school to be a place where pupils can learn, there must be clean toilet facilities to keep students safe from embarrassment. One reason I chose to go to Makerere University in Uganda was the fact that I knew well-lit toilet facilities were within easy reach. I could not only acquire education but also have access to the toilet whenever I needed. And at last, I was able to drink water all the time without worrying.
Many of the Sustainable Development Goals endorsed by the U.N. this year hinge on girls gaining an education. We need to recognize that in many regions of the world, that hinges on creating facilities such as toilets and hand-washing stations and providing a supply of sanitary pads for students. This would go a long way in ensuring that girls feel confident at school and look forward to attending classes.
As we celebrate World Toilet Day, let us focus on sensitizing communities and schools about this issue. Let’s acknowledge that it is a big challenge for children living in informal settlements and do what we can – including building pit latrines near households and constructing clean toilets at schools.
I now live in a house with my husband and three children — and we have four toilets. They’re clean and nice! That’s the dream for everybody.
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Renters in Los Angeles and San Francisco are Paying $1200 a Month for a Bunk Bed in a Shared Space
Would you pay $1200 a month for a bunk bed in a shared space? Renters in Los Angeles and San Francisco are opting for pods in communal home with a desk, locker and personal TV
With the cost of rent continuing to rise, some Americans are taking unusual measures to find a place to sleep.
In Los Angeles and San Francisco, where prices are particularly exorbitant, people have taken to renting bunk beds in communal homes.
PodShare, which provides 10 to 15 co-ed bunkbeds in six locations across California, is hoping to help solve the affordable housing crisis.
The beds can be rented from $35 to $50 a night, which amounts to between $1,050 and $1500 for one month.
It’s no secret that housing prices have rapidly spiked over the last decade and incomes have not kept up
One 2018 study published found that only about one-third of millennials currently own homes.
This is fewer than the number of Generation Xers and baby boomers who owned homes when they were the same age.
And a study conducted by Harvard University this year found that one-in-three Americans can’t afford to pay rent.
It’s unsurprising considering that, in cities such as San Francisco, the average rent for an apartment is about $3,900.
But for $1,200, if you rent with PodShare everyone gets a bed that turns into a desk, individual power outlets, a locker, a shelf and a personal TV.
Each location also provides a communal living room, food such as cereal, toiletries such as toilet paper, laundry machines and WiFi access, reported CNN.
Tenants are known as ‘pod-estrians’.
Although the set-up may seem like an adult dormitory or a hostel, the company uses the term ‘co-living’.
‘PodShare makes life more affordable because there is no security deposit or cost of furnishings and we provide flexible living,’ co-founder Elvina Beck told Vice in 2016.
‘Pod life is the future for singles which are not looking to settle down, but focus on their startups and experience something new.’
There are no curtains to close off the beds, and the only doors are to the bathroom, reported Time Out Los Angeles.
Although there’s no privacy, pod-residents are willing to exchange that for affordability or a reduced travel time to work.
Beck, 34, told CNN that she founded the company in 2012 because she wanted to meet new people and provide housing security to others.
‘Maybe they don’t have two months’ rent to put down or they don’t have proof of income,’ she said.
‘Whether it’s from a divorce or their family kicked them out for being gay or because they’re in a different country or a different city.’
She told CNN that, when she began PodShare, most residents were between ages 24 and 30. Today, however, most ‘tenants’ are in their late 20s or early 30s.
Additionally, many of the early residents were young adults who had just moved to a new city. But many new residents are older adults and even those traveling on business.
However, there some rules that people are required to follow. Lights have to be off by 10pm, no guests are allowed and tenants can’t have sex.
‘You can’t invite any friends over,’ Beck told CNN. ‘Sorry. Just make new ones here.’
“Calming the Canines,” at Maricopa County Animal Care and Control (MCACC), is a new Independence Day tradition.
Last year, over 300 people from the community showed up at the shelter’s two locations around Phoenix, Arizona.
It was overwhelming to see how the community responded. It really helped spread our message that MCACC is here to help.
Amy Engel, who attended Calming the Canines last year said that she definitely plans on attending this year, too.
Engel wrote about her experience last year
Some people sang to them, some people read to them, some people just sat there and gave treats! It was so, so awesome because the dogs absolutely love the attention and were focused on the people and not the fireworks going on outside.
MCACC wrote:
Many participants developed lasting relationships with the shelter, returning to provide foster care, adopt a pet or volunteer.
The shelter suggests people to bring blankets to sit on, or folding chairs, and to let the dog or cat approach them to sit calmly and quietly.
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