Visit to The International Toilet Museum, class 9

As we know the Prime Minister Shri Narendra Modi has pronounced toilet first, temple later! Keeping in view the importance of sanitation and health, our teachers planned a visit for us to the International Toilet Museum at Palam on Tuesday, September 30, 2014.

We, the students of class IX, reached our destination at about 10:15 am. We assembled in the hall to be welcomed by the anthem of the Sulabh Organisation, Sulabh Sukhad Sansaar. Sanitation is our Religion, says the Sulabh International Social Service Organisation. Dr. Bindeshwar Pathak, the founder of the organization, then addressed the gathering. In his highly motivational speech he talked about widow- rehabilitation and gender- equality among other topics. He said his two motives are to promote equality, and to eradicate open defecation. Shri Pathak has opened a school called the Sulabh Public School. 60% of the students here belong to scavenger-families. The school has two sections, an academic section and a vocational training centre. We saw the second section, which included cutting and sewing, beauty care, fashion designing and stenography. The school even made sanitary napkins for poor girls which it sold free. We were explained the process of their manufacture.

[gallery link="file" columns="2"] The second motive is the eradication of open defecation. Dr. Pathak has invented and introduced a first Sulabh Toilet in 1973 in Ara, Bihar. We were shown different toilet models which were affordable and sustainable. They stored waste till it became sludge and was sold for plantation purposes. We were told about some of the other activities that the organisation has undertaken. For instance, it planted Duckweeds in the polluted stretches of rivers, where it successfully purified water. This plant helped in purifying water as well as sustaining aquatic life. Finally, we visited the museum where we observed the history of toilets, their types and designs, the location of Sulabh toilets throughout Delhi, and more. In Mahatma Gandhis words, An ounce of action is more important than tonnes of knowledge". This is what we realised from this trip. We now understand that sanitation and the availability of toilets is an important issue and we need to do something to help the under-privileged. Toilets contribute a great deal towards a healthy population, which is an asset for a largely populated country like India.

By Saruby Sharma and Bhavika Sharma, Class IX.