VOA常速英语2007-Singaporean Fights For Better Toilets Around the

By Claudia Blume
Singapore
27 October 2007

For many people, toilets are not a particularly pleasant topic. Not so for Singaporean entrepreneur Jack¹ Sim. He founded the World Toilet Organization to draw attention to the devastating² health problems poor hygiene³ and sanitation⁴ are causing in many parts of the world. Claudia Blume reports from Singapore.

Toilets are Jack Sim's passion. The 50-year old Singaporean gave up his job in the construction business six years ago to found the World Toilet Organization.

It may sound like a joke, but the charity deals with serious issues. Sim says more than 40 percent of the world's population lacks access to proper toilets. He says 160 million people have intestinal⁵ worms because of poor hygiene, and one-point-six million children die of diarrhea each year - often because of poor sanitation facilities, such as pit latrines.

"A lot of the time they dig a pit, and the pit is usually deep enough until it almost touches the underground water. And the feces and urine and flush water is poured into it and it seeps⁶ through the ground to the underground water and that goes to the well water and when people drink the well water, they get diarrhea, and a lot of children die every year," he says.

The goal of his World Toilet Organization, which he says has members in 41 countries around the world, is to make clean, safe and affordable⁷ sanitation available to everyone.

Every year, the organization holds World Toilet Summits at which academics, charities and government organizations discuss ways to improve sanitation and hygiene. The next summit is scheduled for New Delhi at the end of this month.

Sim says the first step in bringing about change is to talk openly about toilets - a taboo⁸ subject for many people. "Basically, toilets do not improve because people do not want to talk about it, and the reason they don't talk about it is that when they are children, their parents taught them that if you want to be respected for the rest of your life, don't ever admit that you have a relationship with the toilet - and that is really, really wrong," he says.

The charity runs a World Toilet College in Singapore. Students from different fields, such as architects or development workers, can chose among courses ranging from toilet design to ecological⁹ sanitation.

Sim says one of the organization's most important tasks is to train people in slums and rural areas to build toilets themselves. He says he promotes the use of toilets by making them into a status symbol. "If you are defecating on the roadside you are not very respectable, but if you have a toilet then it's like you have a television or you have a hand phone. So this is a very, very important way of promoting it to them, because the poor are status-seeking people," he says.

Sim says his organization will soon open a second toilet college, in the Indonesian province of Aceh.

1 jack   

n.插座，千斤顶，男人；v.抬起，提醒，扛举；n.（Jake）杰克

参考例句：

• I am looking for the headphone jack.我正在找寻头戴式耳机插孔。
• He lifted the car with a jack to change the flat tyre.他用千斤顶把车顶起来换下瘪轮胎。

2 devastating   

adj.毁灭性的，令人震惊的，强有力的

参考例句：

• It is the most devastating storm in 20 years.这是20年来破坏性最大的风暴。
• Affairs do have a devastating effect on marriages.婚外情确实会对婚姻造成毁灭性的影响。

3 hygiene   

n.健康法，卫生学 （a.hygienic）

参考例句：

• Their course of study includes elementary hygiene and medical theory.他们的课程包括基础卫生学和医疗知识。
• He's going to give us a lecture on public hygiene.他要给我们作关于公共卫生方面的报告。

4 sanitation   

n.公共卫生，环境卫生，卫生设备

参考例句：

• The location is exceptionally poor,viewed from the sanitation point.从卫生角度来看，这个地段非常糟糕。
• Many illnesses are the result,f inadequate sanitation.许多疾病都来源于不健全的卫生设施。

5 intestinal   

adj.肠的；肠壁；肠道细菌

参考例句：

• A few other conditions are in high intestinal obstruction. 其它少数情况是高位肠梗阻。 来自辞典例句
• This complication has occasionally occurred following the use of intestinal antiseptics. 这种并发症偶而发生在使用肠道抗菌剂上。 来自辞典例句

6 seeps   

n.（液体）渗( seep的名词复数 )；渗透；渗出；漏出v.（液体）渗( seep的第三人称单数 )；渗透；渗出；漏出

参考例句：

• Water seeps through sand. 水渗入沙中。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》
• Water seeps out of the wall. 水从墙里沁出。 来自《现代汉英综合大词典》

7 affordable   

adj.支付得起的，不太昂贵的

参考例句：

• The rent for the four-roomed house is affordable.四居室房屋的房租付得起。
• There are few affordable apartments in big cities.在大城市中没有几所公寓是便宜的。

8 taboo   

n.禁忌，禁止接近，禁止使用；adj.禁忌的；v.禁忌，禁制，禁止

参考例句：

• The rude words are taboo in ordinary conversation.这些粗野的字眼在日常谈话中是禁忌的。
• Is there a taboo against sex before marriage in your society?在你们的社会里，婚前的性行为犯禁吗？

9 ecological   

adj.生态的，生态学的

参考例句：

• The region has been declared an ecological disaster zone.这个地区已经宣布为生态灾难区。
• Each animal has its ecological niche.每种动物都有自己的生态位.