You’ve probably heard of Town Twinning – where your town is linked with one or more towns overseas.

So Toilet Twinning is about linking your toilet…

… with a toilet in one of the poorest places on the planet.

When you twin your toilet, you get a certificate to hang in your loo, that says where your toilet is twinned with, and it even has its GPS coordinates so you can visit your toilet twin online

So, why would you twin your toilet? The stark fact is that 2.3 billion people in the world don’t have a decent, hygienic toilet

1 billion people go to toilet out in the open

443 million school days are lost each year through children not having access to water and sanitation

Women are vulnerable to snake bites and being sexually assaulted as they squat in the grass, probably late at night, at the edge of their community – as many cultures don’t allow women and girls to go to the toilet during the day

Ebinda lives in the Democratic Republic of Congo She was 14 when she was attacked by a group of men as she went to the toilet one evening

Ebinda wasn’t far from home and her mum Bawili thought she would be safe But Bawili knew instantly what had happened when Ebinda came running back crying, with bruises and scratches to her neck

Ebinda received free medical care for two days through Medicins Sans Frontiers But she became pregnant through the attack and had to subsequently leave school

Six years on, Ebinda says she hasn’t had a day since when she has felt truly happy

Ebinda’s mum Bawili became president of a community health club that Toilet Twinning helped fund in her village. As a widow, Bawili didn’t have the money or strength to build her own toilet

But she went around the village, saying, don’t look at me, you must build a toilet to protect your health, and keep your family safe

The club voted unanimously to help Bawili build a toilet The club voted unanimously to help Bawili build a toilet. The family provided the bricks and water, and the club helped with the digging of the pit.

Now Ebinda’s mum says she feels able to keep her children safe, and she feels dignity has been restored to the family. She never used to invite anyone round for a meal, because she felt too ashamed that they didn’t have a toilet – but now she can have friends and neighbours over, and she feels part of her community.

So how does Toilet Twinning work So how does Toilet Twinning work? It’s a donation of £60 to twin your toilet with a household latrine like Ebinda’s, and £240 to twin with either four toilets in a DRC community, or four toilets across Africa.

Toilet Twinning uses that money to fund programmes that enable communities to access clean water, learn about the link between sanitation and health, build toilets, and learn about hygiene principles such as washing your hands, and keeping cooking utensils clean

In Nepal, local teacher Bishwo was the first to build a toilet in his community as a result of our workshops, and he invited his neighbours to a toilet open day at his home – where he showed them how to use it!

It’s impossible for people to get out of poverty without a toilet.

PHOTOS: RALPH HODGSON/TOILET TWINNING & ADOBESTOCK