Kenya

Maka lives in Kibera in Nairobi. Her toilet is a stone walled pour-flush toilet, which is connected to the sewer. ‘My toilet was very expensive to construct, but my son who works in Saudi Arabia helped me to pay for it,’ she says. ‘It is much better for my mother, who is elderly and cannot walk to the public toilets outside our compound.’

Angola

In rural Angola, seven people in 10 do not have a clean, safe toilet to use. This is one of the reasons why the country has the highest rate of child mortality in the world. Through a community-led total sanitation programme, Valentina Horacio’s village has learned about the importance of hygiene and sanitation and residents have built their own toilets. ‘Everyone in the village uses toilets now and it’s very clean,’ she says. ‘Before we built toilets, there were faeces all over the village, but now we’re free from that.’

Madagascar

Narindra is proud of her toilet, which her mother built following advice she was given by community health workers. ‘Thanks to my mother, I can now have a bit more comfort and better hygiene than I had when I lived in town.’

Ghana

Before the installation of these toilet blocks at Salaga school in northern Ghana, students were constantly getting sick with diarrhoea because many had no choice but to go to the toilet in the open. More than 2,000 students attend the school but there were only a few toilets, which were worn out and very unsanitary. Now the toilets have transformed the school, and sickness rates have gone down. Girls and boys have their own private toilets which means girls are able to manage their periods with dignity and in private.

Kenya

Eunice is the co-founder of the Kasarani Academy in Naivasha. The school used to have only two toilets, which were used by 250 pupils. Tenants living nearby used the toilets as well, and left them in a poor condition. Eunice found that the children preferred to practise open defecation in the school grounds, which quickly became a public health issue. Eunice and her husband Paul have invested in small, child-friendly toilets, which prevent adults using them as they cannot fit through the doors.

Madagascar

Almost 88% of people in Madagascar lack sanitation and many have no choice but to go in the open. Children at this school in the Ankazobe district received water, toilets and hygiene training earlier this year, and they are now motivated to go to school and have a safe and private place to go to the toilet.

Uganda

About 72% of the population in Uganda lacks access to safe, private toilets. Adeka Helen (L), Miidi Janet (M) and Amoit Jessica (R) say they’re proud of the new toilets at their school as they now have a water connection. The girls are able to manage their periods properly and do not miss school as a result. Teachers – both male and female – have had menstrual hygiene training and know how to make sanitary pads.

Angola

Sabina Chilombo has four children. Her village of Waleca was declared open defecation free a year ago after villagers built toilets and maintained high sanitation standards. ‘Defecating outside made my children sick, they were always ill and were not able to go to school,’ she says. ‘Now there is a real change in the village.’