top toilets!
top toilets! Communication project Have you ever wondered…how simple solutions can improve people’s health and wellbeing? Imagine you are a WASH (Water and Sanitation) expert working for the international development charity Practical Action. You will know that good sanitation improves lives. Composting toilets or other simple sanitation solutions can make a big difference but sometimes you need to persuade the communities you want to help to see the benefits for the time and effort they will need to put in. Use your communication skills to: • Explain why developing simple low tech sanitation solutions benefits the health of the whole community • How better sanitation protects vulnerable people Useful Links www.bit.ly/40-shocking-facts-about-water Interesting facts and statistics on water www.unicef.org/wash/index_wes_related.html Information about common water and sanitation-related diseases www.youtube.com/watch?v=LCKsU4bPFOQ Video on why Global Goal 6 is important in eradicating poverty www.wateraid.org Information about the challenges of water and sanitation www.practicalaction.org/improved-toilets-3 Sanitation systems used in different countries Some things to think about... • What low tech but effective sanitation solutions are there? • How do these systems work, what materials are required and how much time and effort is needed to build them? • How will the maintenance of these systems be organised? • Why do these systems benefit groups such as the elderly or women in particular? • What problems might going to the toilet in the open cause? • Which groups are the hardest to persuade to use toilets and why? • What economic benefits might the community gain from developing such systems? • Does defecation into standing water have other disease implications? Health and safety If you carry out any experiments or practical activities then you will need to put together a risk assessment. To do this you will need to: 1. Find out if any of the substances , equipment or procedures you plan to use are hazardous 2. Assess the risk to yourself and others (which means what could go wrong and how serious that could be, low medium or high) 3. Decide what you need to do to reduce that risk e.g. wearing goggles or other protective equipment and knowing how to deal with any potential accidents You will need to show your risk assessment to your teacher and get his/her approval before doing any practical activities. Remember! Judges will be looking for projects that demonstrate good communication skills, show innovation and creativity and that address a real-world problem. Use the Student Profile form to help structure your project www.crestawards.org
