Toilets Ensure Opportunity

Autumn 2016 Your WaterAid magazine Toilets ensure opportunity Making inroads in Cambodia Out and about Chief Executive message With a stellar line up of some and paid to pee by donating of Australia’s best loved a gold coin every time they A sporting chance It’s no comedians including Dave visited the loo on World Toilet Thornton, Tommy Little, Fiona Day. Sport has an amazing communities to develop an education in Timor-Leste O’Loughlin, Dave O’Neil, joke Having a day all about toilets ability to connect people understanding of the issues and see the incredible Lawrence Mooney and Anne may seem funny, but for and drive community girls and women face in differences in what mothers Edmonds, WaterAid hosted on World millions of people around the involvement, empowerment accessing water, sanitation pack in their hospital a comedy gala on the eve of world it’s no laughing matter. and change. As sport is and hygiene, finishing maternity bags around World Toilet day in November. Toilet Day A shocking one in three of present in every country school, escaping poverty the world depending on The event got everyone the world’s population do and culture in the world, and being empowered. the quality of healthcare laughing and helped raise not have access to a safe and WaterAid is harnessing facilities. This edition also awareness about the lack of private toilet. sports’ power to unite and WaterAid is undertaking a looks at our work in one sanitation worldwide, as it’s appeal to mass audiences new and innovative ‘Sports of our newest country Many people have no choice no joke 2.3 billion people in an innovative way to for Development’ program programs, Cambodia. What did one but to face the indignity of don’t have access to a safe achieve WaterAid’s global in Papua New Guinea toilet say to the going to the loo in the open, toilet. strategy of reaching because the empowerment As always thank you for other? where they are exposed to everyone, everywhere by of women and girls, and your ongoing and essential Across Australia, supporters disease and vulnerable to You look flushed! 2030 with safe water, sports participation can be support to help improve hosted comedy events, harassment and even attack. sanitation and hygiene. used to improve conditions. people’s lives. shared jokes on social media WaterAid is working This is why WaterAid is through local NGOs and working with the netball sporting federations, community to use sport to at national, provincial, Everyone loves a improve gender equality, district and local levels, laugh, and what better women’s empowerment to pilot water, sanitation way to acknowledge and access to services in and hygiene, and gender World Toilet Day than Papua New Guinea. projects which utilise sport as the primary interface with humour. I had the opportunity to with schools, communities take WaterAid Ambassador and organisations. and Melbourne Vixen netballer Liz Watson I hope you enjoy this to Papua New Guinea edition of Oasis. You can recently to meet the Papua read about how toilets have Paul Nichols New Guinean national provided opportunities Chief Executive netball team, and visit for girls to continue their WaterAid Australia WaterAid transforms the lives of the poorest and most Comedian Dave Thornton tells some marginalised people by improving access to safe School’s Pre-Secondary Ailuli at Students image: Cover Timor-Leste. in block toilet renovated newly jokes at WaterAid’s World Toilet Day 2 comedy gala. 3 Photo: WaterAid/James Grant WaterAid/James Photo: water, sanitation and hygiene. Thank you! Sports for development Healthy kids, Sport connects and empowers “The health and wellbeing Travelling with WaterAid WaterAid is using sport productive community of young women around and Netball Victoria, Liz was as a way to engage with the world is something I hosted by Netball Papua New communities in Papua Thanks to your and other WaterAid am extremely passionate Guinea and their national New Guinea about the supporters’ generous donations, about. Sport is a vehicle team captain Lua Rikis to learn benefits of water, sanitation Leonie, Stella, Joab and their family that encourages self-esteem about the challenges facing and hygiene and to and leadership, while water, young women in Papua New empower communities and community now have safe sanitation and hygiene are Guinea in accessing safe water, to demand better access water, clean toilets and hygiene. vital to improving health, sanitation and hygiene, their to these services from reducing poverty and difficulties completing school their governments. Sport Their village has tanks for rain ensuring girls stay in school,” and the lack of gender equality. has a universal ability to water harvesting, households says WaterAid Ambassador connect people and drive have built hygienic toilets Liz Watson. community involvement and and community members empowerment. have participated in hygiene In December the Melbourne education. Their children Vixens and Australian Liz visited a WaterAid project aren’t sick any more from Diamonds netballer at a school in Port Moresby diseases which could have visited WaterAid to play netball with girls, and potentially claimed their lives. Leonie and her children Stella and baby Joab now have projects in Papua visited communities in East They can go to school. access to safe water, sanitation and hygiene in their village New Guinea. Sepik and maternal health thanks to WaterAid supporters’ generous donations. Greenwood WaterAid/Tom Photo: facilities in Mt Hagen. Leonie and her family are I share what I have learnt and I grow banana, cucumber, benefiting from lessons experiences I have seen.” taro, green vegetables. I grow “It was fantastic learnt in hygiene training. it to sell at market and to to meet people “I had never attended Leonie is finding that, “The feed the family.” children aren’t sick any hygiene training before… in Papua New more…what I am practising is Her husband and brother- I learnt about washing hands Guinea and see the helping with the family.” in-law Emmanuel have built after using the toilet, that an improved toilet for the difference having we have to cover food from Now that she doesn’t have to household. “When we go to access to clean, flies, water collected from fetch water from a dirty creek the toilet in the bushes it is safe water makes waterholes must be covered. or look after sick children she not safe, people can look at to the community,” I didn’t do this before the has extra time for productive us, flies can come and the says Liz. training. It is important to do activities such as gardening. toilet is open. This toilet is this to stop germs, that’s “I clean the garden, plant the safer, cleaner, people can’t why I should wash hands. garden, make sure it’s clean. look at us,” says Emmanuel. WaterAid Ambassador Liz Watson with Roccu Primary School student Boio, a netball centre 4 5 Photo: WaterAid/Tom Greenwood WaterAid/Tom Photo: on her school team in Papua New Guinea. Education New country program their periods, students like Madelena can focus on their Toilets ensure education and future. Madelena, 15 says, “Toilets opportunity are small things but they can help us realise our dreams because with a toilet we don’t The widespread lack of disrepair, dysfunctional miss school and with a toilet access to toilets and and unhygienic. Students we can focus on our study. water in the world has a had to go to the toilet in My dream in the future is to devastating impact on girls nearby bushes. be a doctor because doctors and women. The lack of WaterAid renovated the can help others and can save Making inroads Children in Cambodia will hygiene facilities in schools people’s lives.” benefit from WaterAid’s work toilets and provided to support the government’s is a major reason for girls goal for universal water and menstrual hygiene “Not only did we get a toilet dropping out of school when sanitation coverage. King WaterAid/Rhiannon Photo: management training for in Cambodia they reach puberty. This but we got information from students and staff to help curtails their education and WaterAid about periods… students manage their before we got instruction the opportunity to take the We are now educating the sanitation problem periods effectively and to from WaterAid my mother told Cambodia is one first essential steps out of community members faced by Cambodia’s dispel myths. me things like I can’t of the newest poverty. throughout Cambodia about floating villages and is eat chilli when I have my countries where The students decorated the guidelines through partnering with a social In the Manufahi district period, but when I got the rehabilitated toilets by WaterAid is working. creative video and drama enterprise to test floating of Timor-Leste, Ailuli Pre- information from WaterAid I painting pictures on the performances. toilets containing man-made Secondary School’s toilet learnt I can do anything when Gender equity, disability walls. wetlands of water hyacinths I get my period.” and citizen action block had been abandoned We have been working with to process waste. and unused for several Now that they no longer miss have been the focus underprivileged people years because it was in total school when they have of our initial work in in urban communities Many healthcare facilities Cambodia to support the in Siem Reap to trial the in Cambodia have ageing government’s ambitious effectiveness of citizen and dilapidated water and goal for universal water action techniques to sanitation services. We and sanitation coverage encourage community are supporting a baseline by 2025. lobbing of local assessment of water, governments for better water sanitation and hygiene We have been working and sanitation services.

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