Bringing attention to the global sanitation crisis
On Nov. 19, 2018, the Seal of Old Main held students playing toilet paper hip golf, which consisted of pushing a roll of toilet paper with another roll hanging from a string wrapped around their hips to the designated location. Though this was an odd sight, it was not the only one. Other activities included a squatting contest, where students had 60 seconds to do as many squats with toilet paper rolls as possible, a basketball relay, where students dipped pieces of toilet paper in water and tried to shoot as many into the bucket as they could, and a mummy station, where students wrapped their peers in, you guessed it, toilet paper.
But why were so many students playing games with toilet paper? Wofford Amnesty International hosted a World Toilet Day celebration to raise awareness about the global sanitation crisis and assist in the effort to ensure safe toilets for everyone by 2030. The club did this by placing a toilet on the Seal of Old Main, covered in facts about the lack of global sanitation, handing out flyers and selling baked goods.
Vera Oberg ‘20, co-president of Wofford Amnesty International, clarified the purpose of this event: “Our vision is to just raise awareness on Wofford’s campus and then hopefully, by that, we get other people to speak up about whatever issues we hold events for throughout the year. We just think [World Toilet Day] matters…because as Wofford students, as people in the Spartanburg community, we don’t think about the privilege of being able to just flush the toilet, of being able to wash our hands with clean water, of always having access to clean water.”
This event is observed by the United Nations and this year’s theme was “When Nature Calls,” which brought attention to the fact while all humans defecate, not all of them have access to a toilet. 4.5 billion people not having access to a safe toilet is a problem, but so is the amount of human feces that contaminates water and soil needed to sustain human life. By bringing this issue to the seal of Wofford, Oberg hoped to make students aware that while they may have the privilege of always using a safe toilet, many in the world do not. She described that now, she thinks about this issue a lot, especially because of her position in life where she does have guaranteed access to a clean and safe toilet.
When asked why so many Wofford students are not aware of this crisis, Oberg answered, “I believe in the Wofford bubble. I also believe that people, whether you go to Wofford or not, even as Americans, don’t do enough research. We don’t take time to learn about crises and issues going on in the rest of the world.” Despite this, Oberg hopes that by hosting events like this, more people will become aware of global problems and through that, gain the tools to help solve crises like the global sanitation crisis.
