I had not heard of it before but it has evidently been up and running for a few years now through a particular global charity whose mission statement is to deliver safe sanitation to those parts of the world where no such thing currently exists.
I only came across it a couple of days ago whilst taking up temporary occupation of a lavatory cubicle in a West Midlands Golf Club in a very welcome comfort break during a Corporate meeting.
As there is not a lot to do in an ablution scenario my attention was drawn to a small framed photograph on the wall of what, at first, looked like someones favourite garden shed.
The image was actually set in a Certificate indicating that the golf club members had donated to the Toilet Twinning process and in return had been presented with a grid reference for the Himalayan Foothills in which that timber structure, a community loo was located.
I assume that the Twinning is a two way exchange and that in a village in the shadow of that great mountainous region there is a similarly mounted picture of the very same compartment in which I was happily spending a few tranquil moments................. and a penny.
Out of the two pictorial representations the English equivalent was far from as inspiring as the lavvy on the edge of the world.
The motivation behind this unique fund raising project is as serious as you can get and really highlights the inequalities in what should be a fundamental provision for human existence.
Sadly, some 2.3 billion of the global population lack a safe toilet which in even more revealing statistical wording represents 1 in 3 of all occupants on the planet.
It is a fact that bad sanitation is a killer and every minute a child under the age of 5 dies from ill health arising from deficiencies in toilet amenities.
It is always the weak and vulnerable who suffer.
There are many other consequences of poor sanitation from illness in the wider population and it is a fact that half the global population have had an illness linked to this lack of suitable provision.
Where donations to Charities are being ever more squeezed through political, economic and social pressures this type of unique project seems to have caught the imagination of the public and has been able to secure a reasonable level of funding.
Faced with the scale of the problems this is likely to struggle be enough to bring safe and secure sanitation to those who need it most but is a most worthy cause.
I will certainly be looking to contribute to the project as soon as I am feeling flush.
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