Red Cross Blogs

Sanitation tests my sanity

By Sarah Oughton
April 28, 2009 at 1:52 pm

My ‘facilities’ have been driving me crazy lately. Firstly, my boiler packs up and I’m telling you now I’m not a cold shower person. No problem I think, I’ve been paying my monthly insurance fee for just such an occasion for years – now it’s time for some payback. Except it’s not – I’m told my boiler is so decrepit there’s nothing they can do I just need to buy a new boiler, which will cost me £1,600! Ouch. Don’t they know I’m a charity worker? I decide to cancel my insurance and the guy on the phone points out that this may be a bit risky. I don’t care, I’m too mad right now.

Then the drain that serves the apartment above me gets blocked. It’s been like that for weeks and nasty smelling stuff is spilling over to the area outside my kitchen window. Anyone for afternoon tea?

I’m ashamed to say I spent the whole weekend whingeing but luckily for my family and friends when I came to work on Monday morning I got a bit of a reality check. I was asked to profile a new water and sanitation programme in Ethiopia that the British Red Cross is supporting.

While I was doing some research I started looking at the United Nations Human Development report from 2006. There are some shocking stats – almost half the developing world lacks access to sanitation. Many more lack access to
good quality sanitation. In Ethiopia only about 1 in 7 people have access.

Or to look at it another way, in the USA the average person uses 575 litres of water per day, in the UK it drops to 150 litres per day and in Ethiopia the average person uses just 15 litres per day – I don’t suppose I have to spell it out, but that’s below the water poverty threshold.

So back to me and my problems. I’ve realised I need to stop whingeing, buy a new boiler and call up Thames Water if my upstairs neighbour can’t be bothered. Sorted. If only it was that easy for everyone.

Find out more about our water and sanitation programmes

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Tags: CAR, care, DEC, ethiopia, insurance, People, red cross, sanitation, shock, UK, UN, USA, water and sanitation

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