Toilets save lives because human waste spreads killer diseases. World Toilet Day is about inspiring action to tackle the global sanitation crisis. Today, 4.5 billion live without a safe toilet and 892 million people still practise open defecation. The impact of exposure to human faeces on this scale has a devastating impact on public health, living and working conditions, nutrition, education and economic productivity across the world.
Access to sanitation in Cameroon is low, and access to sewerage virtually inexistent. This low levels of access to sanitation pose huge health risks to the population of Cameroon. The 2004 WHO burden of disease report establishes that diarrheal diseases caused by lack of water, sanitation and hygiene leads to 18,300 deaths per year in Cameroon, and accounts for 13.4% of the burden of disease in the country.
According to UNICEF: “The percentage of the population that has access to drinking water sources is still quite low in some regions of Cameroon, especially the North (56.5%), Far North (63.7%), South West (66.6%) and East (67.9%) regions. In 2014, only 24% of people in rural areas had access to improved sanitation facilities… The percentage of the population practicing open defecation has been stuck at 7% since 2006, with considerable disparities between rural and urban areas. About 20% of children are affected by 2 diarrhoea (23.2% in rural areas, 15% in urban areas), contributing to early childhood deaths.”
One of the main issues is population’s poor knowledge of hygiene practices, but also the lack of access to clean water and sanitation facilities, insufficient funding for interventions, and a lack or disregard for sanitation policies all contribute to the problem.
RippleZoo is working on improving the sanitation facilities and provision of drinking water in Batoufam, a village in the west part of Cameroon. The local team has already began the work and 13 volunteers from Ireland are going to join the team this Thursday, 22nd of November.
The work has already started in the Kaptche hospital. The video below shows how the local team is drilling a well in the meantime, as well as working on the tiling of the toilets. We will also continue the same process in the primary school in Batoufam.
We will update you on the constant progress of the work! We would like to thank all the people who contributed in any way! Joined our fundraising events, donated equipment for the container, or supported our online donations page.
If you would like to help our project to constantly develop, please visit the GoFundMe Page.
This is happening because of YOU!
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