Sanitation focus of student-led Social Justice Week

Josh Dye
Public relations intern
Avondale College of Higher Education
Cooranbong, New South Wales, Australia

A giant toilet challenging their classmates to give poverty the flush has featured as part of a student-led Social Justice Week at Avondale College of Higher Education.

The two-metre high toilet is on tour around Australia this year. It is an initiative of Micah Challenge, which, in partnership with international non-government organisation WaterAid, is lobbying the Australian Government to increase its foreign aid budget. The aim: $500 million a year for water, sanitation and hygiene by 2015.

“The United Nations . . . aims to halve the proportion of people without access to safe drinking water and improved sanitation by 2015,” says Micah Challenge’s national coordinator John Beckett, who spoke at Avondale during the week. “The world is falling short on the sanitation target. We can’t be satisfied when 2.6 billion people still don’t have access to decent sanitation.”

International poverty and development studies (IPDS) students at Avondale organised the week, which also included a 12-kilometre walk for water. Their aims: to raise awareness of the United Nations’ Millennium Development Goals and to raise money for a well in Narayansthan, Nepal.

The nearest water supply is a six-hour walk from the village, reports IPDS major Chelsea Mitchell. She has visited Nepal and has friends who have visited Narayansthan. Those making the walk—while carrying 20 litres of water—are women. The well will free up the women’s time for income generating work, says Chelsea, which will “give their children education, improve their health and give them a voice.”

Awareness of water, sanitation and hygiene issues in developing countries are key, says Alexandra Radovan, also an IPDS major. “No one will look for solutions until they understand the problem.”

Brad Watson, a senior lecturer in IPDS, is an advocate of advocacy. “You must raise awareness before you can inspire change,” he says.

Did Social Justice Week inspire you? Sign the Micah Challenge petition and Walk for Water (Catherine Hill Bay Surf Lifesaving Club, Sunday, September 16, 2012, 7.00 AM).