World Toilet Day - Around the world in 45 toilets

World Toilet Day is this Thursday (19th November) - as part of our Water4life project we want to improve sanitation for poor, vulnerable communities around the world. 

Poor sanitation causes poor health and perpetuates poverty in developing countries. Poor health means people of limited means are forced to spend money they haven’t enough of, on treatment and medicine. This is money that could otherwise be spent on food; school books; tools and materials that can generate income. Poor health also affects productivity, so that people who could be working to earn their daily bread, are unable. 

2.4 billion people around the world don't have access to decent sanitation and more than a billion are forced to defecate in the open, risking disease and other dangers, according to the United Nations. 

Even where there are toilets around the world, some hardly warrant the name, as illustrated by Reuters in a photo essay from around the world. Click below to see the video.

You can donate towards our sanitation project via our website, click here. Or you can call us on 01282 604055. 

Find out more about our Water4life project and start your own campaign... click here.

Water4Life: Fatou Khan’s Story

In Gambia, MGR works with ROCA to build water pumps and community wells. Depending on the region, a single well can provide clean water for up to 2,000 people. Families use the water for drinking, cooking, bathing, laundry and often even watering crops during dry season. Here’s how MGR’s Water4Life Project changed the life of Fatou Khan and her family in Gambia.

“My name is Fatou Khan and I am 39 years old. Where I live, it was difficult to find clean water, so we used what was available. But even to collect it, we had to walk a long distance every day. Then we had to purify it, because this water was not pure. When we drank it, it made people in my family sick, and the children frequently had diarrhoea.

Things changed when MGR and ROCA built a well in our village. The well has improved the health of my family and it has given a better quality of life to our community. The well is near our compound, so we don’t need to travel to get it every day. It is clean, so we don’t need to purify it before drinking. It is also enough to use for bathing, cooking and laundry. I thank Allah (swt), for allowing us to get clean water through MGR.”

Start your own Water4life Campaign to help another family like Fatou's.
Fatou Khan wants to work to improve her family’s quality of life. She’s willing and capable. She just needs a little help to start up, and the right opportunities. Here’s Fatou Khan’s appeal to MGR donors.
“My husband is a teacher, but his income isn’t enough to support our family of twelve. We sometimes receive food aid, or Qurbani meat during special occasions like Eid. But during the rest of the year, it is difficult to feed everyone. My husband’s second wife and I, stay at home to care for our seven children and my husband’s parents. But we would like to learn vocational skills, like tailoring and tie-dying. This will help us to earn money for our family too.”
Provide Fatou Khan with vocational training

Donate food to Fatou Khan’s family