1. Credit: Jane Beesley/Oxfam Kenya 2006
Thursday the 19th of November 2015 is World Toilet Day. But what’s so good about toilets and why are they important? The clues to this answer are on the slide. Brainstorm ideas – the most important thing is that they contain human waste, keeping it separate from our food and water sources, and preventing us from getting seriously ill.
The whole subject of toilets might seem funny, but imagine this: our toilets have been taken away. You get sick, your friends and family get sick, and some even die due to poor sanitation. 2.4 billion people worldwide don’t need to imagine that they don’t have a toilet, it’s their reality.
According to worldtoilet.org 1 in 3 people on this planet still don’t have access to a clean and safe toilet; 1,000 children die each day due to poor sanitation; and better sanitation supports better nutrition and improved health, especially for women and children.
At Oxfam we know the importance of toilets. When Oxfam responds to emergencies one of the first things it does is to put toilets in place. When Oxfam works with communities in the long term, it supports people to build toilets and improve their hygiene practices.
What is this picture showing?
This is a painting on the side of a toilet, promoting good hygiene practices and warning of the dangers of not following them. When Oxfam works to provide people with toilets, it also spreads hygiene messages as widely as possible – toilets on their own are not enough.
Question linking to next slide: What’s the quickest way to build a toilet?
Credit: Jane Beesley/Oxfam
Kenya 2006

2. Answer to the question on the previous slide: Dig a trench and construct walls and doors around it, this is a pit latrine.
To build a pit latrine, first dig a big hole. Next, lay plastic latrine slabs over the top of the pit. Lastly, construct walls, a roof and doors. Latrines like this are a common solution when emergency toilets are required, particularly after a disaster.
Question linking to the next slide: But if you can’t dig because the ground is too soft or hard, then how can you build a basic toilet?
Watch this 46 second video to see a pit latrine being built (optional): - Toilets in no time (Pakistan)

3. Credit: Jane Beesley/Oxfam Haiti 2010 Credit: Jerry Carreon/Oxfam
Answer to the question on the previous slide: By building your toilet all above ground.
Picture Left:
After the Haiti Earthquake in 2010 engineers were presented with the challenge of building toilets on concrete. Imagine how difficult that would be! Their solution: to build these toilets which are raised off the ground with collection tanks underneath for the waste. This means no digging is necessary. Rene, aged 10, is pictured here standing outside some Oxfam latrines at Union Adventiste camp, Port Au Prince.
Picture Right:
It is also difficult to build toilets on boggy ground as it can be too soft to dig and human waste can go into the water source. This was the problem in the Philippines after typhoon Ketsana. Engineers worked out the same solution as they did in Haiti – to raise the latrine by using a wooden frame. The human waste would be contained below the platform where the two men in the picture are standing.
Question linking to next slide: But if there was a flood then how could you build a toilet?
Credit: Jane Beesley/Oxfam
Haiti 2010
Credit: Jerry Carreon/Oxfam
Philippines 2009

4. Answer to the question on the previous slide: By building a floating toilet.
Some of the world’s poorest communities are regularly at risk of losing their homes to floods. But when toilets are flooded too, it gets even worse. With all sorts of nasties floating around in toxic flood water, disease spreads quickly.
This floating toilet in Bangladesh is correctly known as a Pontoon latrine. It is anchored to the ground and can be pulled in to the land when it is needed during flood times. The blue barrels collect the waste which then has to be removed and treated. Raised latrines are also used (i.e. latrines on raised up ground as shown in previous slide).
Question linking to the next slide: But toilets can take a bit of time to build. In an emergency, how can people go to the loo in a way that is clean and safe, before toilets have been built?

5. Answer to question on previous slide: By providing bags that can be used to contain pee and poo.
In overcrowded emergency situations or in urban slums, people will often go to the toilet in plastic bags which is a problem because these bags will never break down. Pee poo bags are a much better alternative and are made up of an inner bag for faeces and an outer bag full of urea crystals which solidify urine. Since they are biodegradable, pee poo bags can even be recycled
People can use them at their homes or in special public toilets. Once they have been used, they are placed in pee poo bag bins where they break down safely. When toilets are in short supply pee poo bags prevent human waste from getting into water supplies which would cause widespread sickness and diarrhoea. In November 2013, Oxfam shipped around 30,000 pee poo bags to the Philippines as part of our typhoon response.
By using pee poo bags, waste products are broken down safely and can then used as compost or buried with trees planted on top.
Question linking to the next slide: How else can pee and poo be broken down?
Watch this video to find out more (optional): (1min 49 sec)

6. Answer to the question on the previous slide: By getting worms to break it down.
Getting rid of faeces in a slum is a tricky problem, especially when there’s no room to dig. Here's how to solve that one ... put a few kilos of tiger worms into a purpose built container, then build a toilet around it. The worms will eat the poo and turn it into compost.
There are many benefits of the worm-based latrine system; the quantity of waste is substantially reduced meaning that the latrine needs emptying less often, the worms remove a large proportion of dangerous bacteria, and the bi-product can be used as compost to fertilise crops.
Question linking to the next slide: What uses might pee and poo have other than compost?

7. Credit: Eleanor Farmer/Oxfam Kenya 2013
Answer to the question on the previous slide: Using the gas produced by human waste for cooking!
In Kenya's capital, Nairobi, almost two million people live in informal settlements or 'slums'. Poverty is rife, water and sanitation facilities are completely inadequate and disease rates are high. Oxfam has built a number of Biocentres in Nairobi which offer residents a clean and affordable toilet facility with soap and hand washing stations. Waste is then turned into Bio Gas which can be used by residents to cook and boil water at a communal stove. 
The Biocentres also offer residents affordable, clean and fresh water sold at water kiosks which are managed by local youth groups.  Question linking to the next slide: How else could the power of pee and poo be harnessed?
Watch this video to find out more (optional): Bio-fuel toilets - Mukuru, Kenya (52 seconds long)
Credit: Eleanor Farmer/Oxfam
Kenya 2013

8. Credit: UWE University Bristol 2015
Answer to the question on the previous slide: By using urine to power batteries that light up toilets safely at night.
Recently, Oxfam has invested money in backing a scientific research project at the University of the West of England which aims to turn urine into electricity.
This was started in response to an everyday but alarming problem faced by women and girls living in refugee camps: the threat of harassment or attack when using unlit communal toilets at night.
The scientists running the study believe that it may be possible to collect urine from the toilets and convert it into enough electricity to power an economical, sustainable lighting system for a toilet cubicle or Portaloo.
If successful, this would completely change the face of latrine provision in emergency situations. It could also be rolled out beyond refugee camps; providing latrine lighting in urban areas, which will ensure greater safety and use.
Question linking to the next slide: What other uses might pee and poo have?
See more here:
Credit: UWE University
Bristol 2015

9. Answer to the question on the previous slide: By poviding jobs for people.
Fresh Life toilets like this one in Kenya, operate as a business. Residents can buy into the franchise, charging others a small fee for their use, and in turn make sure that the toilets are kept clean and that there's always soap and water for visitors.
Watch this video to find out more (optional): - Fresh Life toilets lift threat of daily disease - Kenya