A false latrine against open defecation

December 14, 2018

We are not aware of what we have until we lack it in a moment of need. The social experiment carried out by the Foundation in a well-off area of India on World Toilet Day started the campaign #CloseOpenDefecation in a country where more than 250 million people defecate in fields, streets and railways. A fake toilet stirred consciences.

In a crowded market in Gurugram, the modern and well-equipped city 30 km away from the capital, New Delhi, the We Are Water Foundation built a fake toilet for men and women. Inside, instead of the WC and the basin, needy passersby faced the reality of 220 million Indians who need to defecate in open fields, railways, roads, bushes and streets. Inside this fake toilet many also discovered the reality of women in their country, who need to leave school when they reach puberty due to the lack of necessary privacy to practice their intimate hygiene.

The campaign managed to move and gain the support of those who participated in the on-site experiment and served to launch the activity of the We Are Water Foundation in India on Twitter.