The World Toilet Organization declared Nov. 19 “The Big Squat” to draw attention to the lack of toilets in the world and the attendant disease transmission. Here’s the Web site.
This reminds me of my own declared Pee On Earth Day and the UUSC’s Guest At Your Table, among others. A simple action to connect folks to larger issues.
I’m not sure this is how I would have crafted this campaign action.
1. Squatting, per se, is not the problem. A large population uses squatting toilets.
2. Lack of toilets is not the problem either. Millions of toilets in the world drain to drinking water sources and other places where disease is easily transmitted. “Toilets,” perhaps in the WTO’s view, are the mascot for excreta management, the real challenge.
This could be helpful for those of us who have written books with “toilet” in the title by raising the profile of the word, toilet, and associating it with greater good.
Will squatting raise awareness and spur to action? With my creaky knees, it would certainly associate some empathetic pain to the issue for me.
That said, squat away on Nov. 19 and think about how to promote better sanitation and excreta management.
