World Toilet Day : Sanitation As Instrument Of Peace

“In our school complex, not everything is in place for pupils to always access clean water to wash their hands after using the toilet. Nevertheless, the State has made great efforts in this regard. Two weeks ago, they began refurbishing our toilets, and a water point will also be set up – all gifts by Yaounde II Subdivisional Council,” said Mrs. Biloa Essomba, Headmistress of Government School, Tsinga Olinga, Group II A, located near the 8th Market in Yaounde II Subdivision, Yaounde.

From Traditional To Modern Toilets  
She spoke in Yaounde on Tuesday, November 19, 2024 on the occasion of this year’s World Toilet Day. With theme, “Sanitation for peace.” Indeed, as UN Water insists, toilets are places for peace, protect our health and safety; and are platforms for progress. “Before now, our school had traditional-style toilets for pupils and teachers. As a result, some pupils had diarrhoea, perhaps because they defecated just anywhere. As well as stomach bites, challenges with digestion.... But we have never had any case of cholera. With the sensitisation, I believe we will never experience it,” Mrs Essomba expressed hope.  

Death Stares Us In The Face   
“World Toilet Day is very important day to us, especially to pupils, the education community and all those who understand that toilet is life. Without toilets, death stares us all in the face because excreting in open air only breeds disease. When we fall sick, we seek treatment in hospitals where we spend money that would have been utilised for other purposes. Yet, many families do not have such money, given the level of poverty. With the initiative of sensitising children on toilet, hygiene and sanitation, I believe the message will also get to their families; and that they will take it seriously,” Mrs. Biloa Essomba underscored.

More Engagement By Stakeholders 
The sanitation outreach to Government School, Tsinga Olinga was organised by the “Association nationale des Toilettes pour tous au Cameroun,” ANT/CMR. “There are billions of people all over the world without toilets, while millions of children die each year because of the absence of safely-managed sanitation at home and in school. We set up a Water, Sanitation and Hygiene, WASH clubs in schools because we realised during the Coronavirus pandemic that microorganisms were transmitted in families. When we visited some schools, we discovered that the state of toilets was worrisome,” said Mrs. Tall’a nee Djuikouo Ndeffo Christine Flore, ANT/CMR’s President.

WASH School Clubs 
“This is why we began the project to set up WASH clubs in schools. Which started with rehabilitation of existing toilets. We also realised that after cleaning toilets, their sanitation situation worsened a few days after. Reason why we decided to make pupils more responsible by taking care of their school toilets and their environment,” Ndeffo Christine Flore added.&...