Sita’s story: how toilets change lives

Thursday 23rd May 2019

Not long ago, there were no toilets in Sita’s village in northern Ivory Coast. Her children were constantly sick with diarrhoea and the family often had to travel to the medical centre and buy medicines they couldn’t afford. Sometimes, the nurse would give them a week’s grace to pay: sometimes, Sita borrowed from neighbours. She and her husband do casual shifts on the local cashew plantation and work is scarce. Their debts mounted up.

‘We felt trapped,’ Sita says. ‘We didn’t want to live any more.’

Since Toilet Twinning’s partner MAP started teaching people about hygiene and sanitation, families like Sita’s have built a latrine behind their home. There’s a new community water pump by the school too – and a village committee to make sure the pump is properly maintained.

Now, Sita’s family are healthy and no longer have to spend money on medicines. They can afford to send the children to school – and are building a new home.

‘Now, thank God, our village is clean, my family is much healthier and there’s no more debt,’ says Sita.