5월 15일 토픽입니다(about public toilets )

[chloe(엄은조)]

* Public Habits and Attitude of the past

In the absence of proper toilet facilities, people perforce had to defecate and urinate wherever they could. Defecating on the road, open spaces, or just easing themselves in the river was very common.

While the authorities were educating people to have private places for defecating, and getting it cleaned, in actual practice there was total disorder. Squalor and filth abounded in cities. The social reformers advised people where to defecate, how to defecate in privacy and the need to control themselves when in company. Children were taught not to touch human waste. At the same time, there was no hesitation in letting loose pigs to eat human excreta.

Number of enactments, however, could not prevent people to defecate in the open. A delegation led by master weaver protested in front of the French Municipal Building and said" our fathers have defecated at the place where you prevent us to do. We have defecated here and now our children will defecate there".

The rich used wool or hemp for ablution while the poor used grass, stone or sand or water depending upon the country and weather conditions or social customs. Use of newspaper was also common. In Russia to the utter dislike of all, the subordinates even stamped the toilet paper with imperial arms for use of the Czar. But in was termed as sacrilege. The final solution to the problem of ablution was found when in 1857, Joseph Cayetty invented the toilet paper in USA. This invention has enabled human beings to have a tissue paper, which is convenient to use, is absorbent, as well as compact and within reach while defecating.

In India it is very common to use water for ablution. However, the hand one uses varies in various parts of India. While in South India, people use the right hand for eating food, it is considered disgusting to use the same hand for ablution with water. So left hand is used for sanitary purposes. In most parts of the North India, however, no such sharp distinction exists.

Household hygiene habits of ordinary people left much to be desired. The dry latrines using bucket was cleaned by menials. These workers came to be known as Bucket Brigades'.

According to Hiroshi Umino, European culture blossomed forth after contact with Crusaders from the East. Washing hands for example before food also became popular. The social reformers admonished the people by saying "suck your fingers beast, do not wipe them on the wall". In colonial times in India, the British called big; cities as "vast mass privy" due to defecation by people at all times and at all places. There were also no separate toilets for men and women, till a restaurant in Paris put up 'Men Toilet' and 'Women Toilet' at a dance party in 1739 AD.

It is also around this time that the urinal pot was introduced to enable men to relieve themselves. The facilities for women were niggardly and they were taught virtues of control. Despite technological breakthrough a lot needed to be accomplished to educate people to use the new technology appropriately, to ensure that the toilet drainage system is not misused by disposal of other household wastes. However, at city level the disposal of human waste still remained a problem.

* Public Toilets and People

In each society from time to time the government felt the need to provide public toilet facilities to those who could not afford to have individual toilets. The public toilets have a long history in number of countries and most of which were constructed and managed by municipalities. But there was all around disgust with their poor maintenance, vandalism and lack of basic facilities. The Mughal King Jehangir built a public toilet at Alwar, 120 kms away from Delhi for use of 100 families at a time in 1556 AD. Not much documentary evidence exists on the quality of its maintenance but one can well visualize that with rudimentary technology and with government to manage the O&M functions, it like others must be in very unsatisfactory condition. As hygienic conditions in public toilets were bad, people preferred to do open defecation. This was true in most of the countries. It was in 1872 that the municipalities in France asked the private companies to manage public toilets for a lease period of 20 years. The private companies were also offering even amounts to government as they felt confident to recover the same through user charges. Ground floor owners were also being requested to construct latrines for use of the passersby. Previously known as Palais Royal Hotel in Paris, the owners started charging monthly fee from diners.

In India, when I founded Sulabh International in 1970 in a small village in Patna, people laughed at me when I proposed to introduce the pay-and-use toilets. But my approach has succeeded and today 10 million people use Sulabh facilities every day. Most of the public toilets are being given to us to construct and maintain on a 30 years base period at no charge to the State. At the beginning of the century most of the public toilets have gone underground in Europe, but in India these are still over ground. Much more attention is being given to construct these toilets on pay and use basis in slum areas where men pay half a rupee per use, the females and children avail of these facilities free. The facilities available include toilet, bathing or washing of clothes and to change clothes. We are also setting up primary health care center at these places. However, a lot of effort is required to get people's participation in efficient operation and maintenance of public toilets. This remains a big challenge to be met by NGOs. Based on my experience of the last 25 years, I am also convinced that only cooperation between Government and NGOs can make the sanitation program a success. Neither the NGOs nor the government can create an impact if they work in isolation.

<Questions>

Q1. Have you ever used a public toilet? Is there any problem to use it?

Q2. Do you have any kind of episodes or stories related to a toilet? (embarassing moment, scary story...)

Q3. Have you ever experienced a unique, special toilet or bathroom? If you have, please tell us the story.

Q4. What kind of bathroom(toilet) do you want?

음~ 좀 신선하고(?) 안해봤을법한 토픽을 찾다보니 어떻게 화장실까지 오게되었네요~ㅋ(화장실 급한 펭귄~ㅋ)

즐겁고 행복한 한주 보내시고~일요일날 뵐께요~

[Nick(이이슬이)]

우후~! 토픽 감사합니다!!

[chloe(엄은조)]

나도 감사요

[Peach(이미영)]

오~~ㅋㅋ 잘볼게^^

[chloe(엄은조)]

봐주면 고맙지~^^♥

[Vuitton(김소윤)]

감사^^

[chloe(엄은조)]

땡쿠^-^

[violet(이보라)]

토픽 감사해 은조양^^

[chloe(엄은조)]

고마워 보라양~(^o^)

[Jessica ( 이효정)]

매주 토픽이 두개 올라오나요?^^;

[chloe(엄은조)]

네에~~~

[siron(영일)]

오~ 잘 보게쓰~~ ㅋㅋ

[chloe(엄은조)]

오~잘 보시오~~

[TG(강태구)]

길다... 그래도 다 읽고 가야지..ㅎㅎ

[chloe(엄은조)]

올~~다 물어볼테다....아..내가 읽어야할텐데~ㅋ

[violet(이보라)]

태구 왠일로 올려공? ㅋㅋ

[chloe(엄은조)]

ㅋㅋ오지말라는거같다ㅋ

[Selina(한경진)]

기일일일다~~~~~=ㅁ= 그래도 공부는 되겠죠?ㅎㅎ

[chloe(엄은조)]

ㅠㅠ죄송요 저두 긴건 싫은데 내 맘같은 토픽이 없더라구요

[gina(권진화)]

헐쓰 길구나..ㅋㅋ 힘들당..ㅋㅋ

[chloe(엄은조)]

^^;;담엔 짧은걸루 대령할께요

[Neil(이준희)]

누님 넘 길잖아요 잠깐 졸뻔 했어요 ㅜ

[chloe(엄은조)]

넌 가만있어도 몽중인~~내탓이 아닐세ㅋ

[Christopher(강경헌)]

수고하셧습니다.

[chloe(엄은조)]

별말씀을요~~

[Shanna(이은정)]

음.. 서양에선 화장실 얘기는 거의 금기비스무리한데 동양에선 화장실관련 이야기가 인기짱. 그래도 영어스터디에서 요런 토픽을 보다니 너무 신선하네요 ㅋㅋㅋ 짱!