One of the main reasons why lack of sanitation is such a big problem, are of course the health implications that lack of appropriate sanitation has. It is estimated that 2.2 million people die of diarrhoeal diseases annually, of which children form the vast majority. These numbers, although often repeated, are quickly forgotten as all humanitarian crises seem to be in competition with each other to gain attention and funds for their cause.
I must say, I am no different. Although I am well aware of the health implications of poor sanitation and the effects in can have on people’s lives and livelihoods, I am not directly confronted by these conditions (yet), so these thoughts are absent from my mind most of the time that I’m thinking on the subject. Sanitation detached from its day-to-day implications becomes a technical issue; a choice between different types of toilet technologies, management models and education campaigns.
My visit to the vaccination centre in my university town yesterday helped me to wake up again. Although I already have had most of the vaccines required to visit India, my trip is of a different kind of nature than that of most tourists. The nurse discussed with me the idea of taking along various doses of antibiotics in case of treatment and also the possibility of taking a sort of vaccine against cholera, which also seems to be effective against traveller’s diarrhoea.
This medical visit really got me thinking. In my case I can take preventive medicines, carry alcohol gel around to disinfect my hands, have some doses of antibiotics at hand if I get ill, I can also always choose the exit strategy and leave my research site and go to a hospital for treatment or to a hotel to recover for some days. It might cost a bit, but I’m confident I’ll able to carry these expenses. But what if you can’t afford all of that? How do you deal with diarrhoea in the middle of the night if the nearest public toilet is a 15 minute walk away? What if you can’t afford medicines to treat your children? I must admit that these thoughts are more disturbing and tend to hang around my mind a bit longer than the statistics mentioned above.
Until my research is under way I guess, I’ll never really know how one copes without the comfort of a toilet in an unhygienic environment. So what does one do nowadays when (s)he is left clueless? That right, you turn to youtube! Check out the video below by Video Volunteers’ India Unheard. On their youtube page, you’ll also get access to many more of the fantastic videos that these people have made.
lotsofshit 