A harsh truth exists in the Eastern Cape of South Africa: a large part of the population does not have access to indoor toilets. The old are especially at risk because of this seemingly basic need, which led to Masakulu’s death in 2018. The brutal attack on the 84-year-old woman who had to use an outdoor toilet because there were none available inside was a turning point. The Ma-Sokhulu Indoor Programmes (MIP) project was started because of her story, which was told in CSR News.
MIP was started in 2020 by CSR News and The GivenGroup Foundation to deal with a problem that has effects all over the world. As of 2023, new data from Statistics South Africa shows that only 72% of South Africans have access to safe sanitation services. For more information, see the link to South African sanitation statistics. An even bigger difference can be seen in the Eastern Cape, where a big chunk of the population is below the national average.
Not having access not only puts people’s health at risk, but it also puts seniors like Ma-Sokhulu at risk of being harmed while using basic services.
MIP has effects that go far beyond just putting in toilets. It gives communities power by meeting a basic need and giving people who have lived without this basic convenience back their respect. Imagine how a 74-year-old woman’s daily life would change after getting an indoor toilet. She would no longer be afraid and feel more at ease in the privacy of her own home.
MIP’s success shows how dedicated CSR News, its partners, and its kind donors are. For another person in the Eastern Cape, each new toilet is a step towards a better and more respectable life. The project shows how much CSR News cares about social justice. MIP makes the Eastern Cape a more fair place to live by making sure that adults can age in safety and with respect.
But the fight is still going on. Even though MIP is proud of what it has accomplished, the fact that so many people in the Eastern Cape still don’t have access to clean water and toilets shows that the programme needs more help and to be expanded. Imagine the sigh of relief that will fill the air when elderly people no longer have to choose between their safety and their basic wants. This is the future that MIP wants to make.
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