I need to go to the toilet, she said. Sure, we have time. You can do it at the school as we drop the children, I replied.
But she refused. No way! I'm not gonna use school toilets! Kids toilets are a mess, don't you know that? Well, I said. There should be a guests toilet - or teachers toilet, right boys? Ugh, we're early, Dad, the front door might still be locked, responded one of the sons.
Alright, she said. Let's go to Coles. I know there's a clean toilet somewhere around it. It's only five minutes drive from here. I guess that's a better idea - I was gonna suggest peeing in the open, as I saw many bushes around the school yard, but I knew she would kill me.
Which all reminded me of this cool book about India. About why to some Indians, open defecation (not just peeing) is preferred to having latrines! About how it affects the underdevelopment in India (stunting and all). And about how they are related to the caste system.
And while still waiting for her, I remembered my paper too. In which I found that sanitation can be more critical than access to improved water facility in causing diarrhoea among children in Indonesia's less developed regions. One of the channels is .. open defecation. That is, even if your house has an improved water facility, if the toilet is poor, the chance of getting diarrhoea is high. And even if you have improved water resources and improved sanitation, but your neighbour defecate in the open (and your children play in that neighborhood and, as children do, forget to wash their hands properly), the odds of having diarrhoea is still high.
She's back.
But she refused. No way! I'm not gonna use school toilets! Kids toilets are a mess, don't you know that? Well, I said. There should be a guests toilet - or teachers toilet, right boys? Ugh, we're early, Dad, the front door might still be locked, responded one of the sons.
Alright, she said. Let's go to Coles. I know there's a clean toilet somewhere around it. It's only five minutes drive from here. I guess that's a better idea - I was gonna suggest peeing in the open, as I saw many bushes around the school yard, but I knew she would kill me.
Which all reminded me of this cool book about India. About why to some Indians, open defecation (not just peeing) is preferred to having latrines! About how it affects the underdevelopment in India (stunting and all). And about how they are related to the caste system.
And while still waiting for her, I remembered my paper too. In which I found that sanitation can be more critical than access to improved water facility in causing diarrhoea among children in Indonesia's less developed regions. One of the channels is .. open defecation. That is, even if your house has an improved water facility, if the toilet is poor, the chance of getting diarrhoea is high. And even if you have improved water resources and improved sanitation, but your neighbour defecate in the open (and your children play in that neighborhood and, as children do, forget to wash their hands properly), the odds of having diarrhoea is still high.
She's back.
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