#ToiletForBabli: Let's make India Healthy!

Today, let me tell you the story of a little 5-year-old, Babli who lives in a small village in U.P. Babli is fun-loving, studious, bright, playful, healthy and well-behaved, the most precious thing in her poor parents’ vacant coffer. She has everything, from a supporting family, two siblings, a cozy home, books, clothes, friends, everything that she needed except for one thing- that she realized is a necessity-

One day she asked her father-

‘Baapu, do we have everything in our lives?”

“Yes, beta. Everything that we need.”

“But, then why do we don’t have a toilet like others?”

“Because, we actually do not need them. We have enough space for that.”

“But I feel very ashamed of it. Yesterday, some boys of my class peeped through the bushes and made fun of me.”, Babli said in hushed voice almost crying.

“If that is the matter, nothing is important than the dignity of my family. I’ll go to the Panchayat tomorrow and get a toilet made in our house. Nothing is greater than my daughter’s smile.”

Babli felt proud of her father.

This is not the end of everything. There are a lot of Bablis living in every nook and corner of India. It’s a shame that a country that keeps talking about the honour of women, fails to provide such honour to them. A lot of people in rural India don’t have toilets in their houses. Even the women are obliged to go to open grounds for defecation. Why don’t people see it’s disrespectful, if for one moment we forget about the hygiene part? In my opinion, it’s because of the lack of knowledge and illiteracy. The villagers are not at all aware of health and hygiene. They are not aware how the open defecation can cause infections and engender numerous diseases. Unfortunately, there are almost 597 million people still defecating in open. It’s not only unhygienic but also unsafe and unhealthy. This is one of the most prominent reasons of poor health and child diseases. It causes spreading of germs and acute illness.

It’s a relief that the government has taken a good step in spreading awareness in the rural and remote areas. Television commercials are also being aired in order to spread awareness. Health-centers in rural areas have their team also that travels from one village to another to spread awareness and talk to the villagers personally.

The initiative that Domex has come up with, a campaign named ‘Toilet for Babli’ is commendable. Spreading awareness and proper education in health and hygiene is necessary in today’s world, especially in rural India. The more people are aware, the more lives can be saved. Domex Toilet Academy (DTA) Programme has been providing sanitation and helping the local economy since 2013. The efforts have successfully brought a great change in the villages. Domex aims to build 24000 toilets in India by 2015. Let’s hope that happens.

We, as the well-educated and responsible crowd of India, should choose our ways to help the society to learn about hygiene and health. If we support the cause, it should be successful. A toilet for every house, India needs it. 

This post is written as a part of the Indiblogger Happy Hours Programme- Domex #ToiletForBabli campaign by Domex.