There's a fellow volunteer by the name of Joycee Smith at VIN (Volunteers Initiative Nepal) who is applying for this competition for a $5,000 grant for a project. She's trying to raise money for a project I participated in in 2010: toilet construction for poor families in rural Nepal.

It's very sad in this day and age to see so many people without such basic things. It's not only a question of health and hygiene, it's also a question of human dignity.

People in Nepal were so happy whenever a new toilet would be made for a family, even if it weren't for their own. I know VIN's dream is to provide sanitation for all families in their project area of Jitpur. I know many families and many children are looking forward to the day when they will have their own. They've told me.

I felt bad not being able to build more when I was there. The problem in fact was not lack of labour or education on the topic. The locals are there. They are willing to help each other. VIN also did a great job at educating people about the need for more hygiene and the advantages of proper facilities. The only missing piece is money for the materials (cement, pipes, etc). That's why I would invite you to vote for this project and donate if you can.

Find more photos like this on It'sOneHumanity

*** Click here to vote for the grant competition ***

*** Direct donations to the project are welcome HERE ***

Here's Joycee's text:

Toilet construction to eradicate disease & death, Nepal

Can you imagine life without a toilet? 

A house where you continually need to defecate in your own plot of land and not even being educated to cover the waste with soil. Why not? Because your parents never have nor their parents before them.

Can you imagine you (or your children) playing in a school yard and stepping into body waste that is literally scattered everywhere because there is simply no choice – but has severe repercussions to health of the villagers.

Disease through lack of hygiene in Nepal is tragic. The district of Jitpur in the Kathmandu Valley is made up of 7 villages, 6 of which do not have access to toilets. Through fund raising we have managed to construct 52 toilets in the Village of Dadagaun and now desperately need to continue this construction in neighbouring villages.

Toilets are not built to western world standards, but they do have 4 walls, a roof, a porcelain squat toilet and are connected to septic tanks. Villagers lucky enough to have one of these loos all need to be educated in hygiene and cleanliness of their toilets – a fact quite strange to our culture.

However, a toilet to these people, who are hard workers with many trying to get their children educated to ensure a better future for future generations, is an absolute luxury of which they are extremely grateful and proud.

My dream is to fund a further 30 toilets in a village of the Jitpur district and help to eradicate disease, and early death through lack of sanitation, in a country that offers no financial support to its people. 

Here's a video I made from my experience in 2010:

Best,

Elliott