Adults

More than 80% of sewage in developing countries is discharged untreated, polluting rivers,
lakes and coastal areas.

Give thanks that we don’t have to worry about what happens when we flush the toilet

Children (should have been yesterday but fits better today)

It might not seem like much of a luxury to have a toilet but there are 2.5 billion people around the world who don’t have anywhere clean or private to go to the toilet. In very poor neighbourhoods in Kenya, people have to use ‘flying toilets’ where they have no choice but to go to the toilet in a plastic bag and then throw it away. This is dirty and can cause diseases to spread. 12-year-old Jeremiah who lives in Matopeni, Kenya, says: ‘It’s dirty and we get sick… it smells bad.’

Give 10p for every time you used a clean, flushing toilet today!

Among my earliest recollection's is the "fairy at the bottom of the garden"... an outside toilet at the far side of the backyard of the cottage we lived until I was five.  I can, if I concentrate, recall the smell, not of anything nasty, just the damp mortar or bricks, and the cold air.  Moving to a house with a bathroom with hot water on tap, and no more need for my mother to boil saucepans of water for us to wash... pure luxury!  More than four decades on I am very privileged, with an en-suite shower room, meaning I can roll out of bed and attend to the necessary; if I have guests they can have exclusive use of the bathroom.

Caution, you may find this prayer a bit irreverent

God of small things, of insignificant things,

We recall that somewhere in scriptures you laid out rules for lavatorial hygiene.

You claimed to find poo offensive, saying it msut be done outside the camp

And we, with our scientific heads, interpret that as a 'good idea'

Keeping sources of disease out

But now, we in the west give no heed

To how our excrement is processed

Carried away in sewers or drained from septic tanks

Treated to remove debris and other nasties

And safely dispensed, we know what where.

Thank you

For those who had the foresight to dig out sewers and build treatment plants

(Complete with their unique, seasonal pong)

For the water companies

For the people who fix burst water mains and replace worn sewers

For the people who repair or replace out broken loos

For the manufacturers of toilet rolls and toiler fresheners

Bleach, loo brushes and plungers

For the 'green toilets' and 'grey toilets' in country parks

And portaloos at public events and permanent public conveniences

Thank you that we not only pee in private

But do so without giving it a second thought

Amen

Today - one prayer

Total -  £25.85, six prayers, one rant, one memory and one e-petition signed