Seriously, the toilet perils of traveling don’t get talked about enough – maybe because so many of the Africa travelogues I’ve read are written by men and, I don’t care what anyone says about gender equality, men simply don’t have the same issues when it comes to toilets. They can generally whip it out and pee anywhere (and they do… every time I turn a corner there’s an Ethiopian man peeing up a fence or a lamppost or on a parked car) but for women it’s not so easy.
For a start, sometimes a toilet, however rudimentary, doesn’t actually exist. At our school there are no toilet facilities (they are being built) and very little cover to enable you to pee behind a tree. Consequently, if I’m at the school from early morning until the evening I have to either drive back to the town to pee (which makes me feel utterly ridiculous) or just hold it. So I try and plan to only stay for a few hours at a time, and ration the amount I drink (not so easy when it’s really hot!).
So wherever you’re going and whatever you’re doing, you try and make sure there are toilets. The first time my three male colleagues and I were going to drive from Lalibela to Addis Ababa, I made sure I said to Abiy, the driver, ‘look, you guys are men, you can pee anywhere, but we have to make sure we find me a proper toilet sometimes’.
I don’t mean I have to have a western style toilet, I’m quite happy with a hole in the ground – in fact, sometimes these can be a more pleasant experience. Toilet wise, I have done things I never would have done in the UK. I have peed while a goats watched, peed in a group, behind a tree (okay, I’ve done that one before!), in the most disgusting and smelly shed, and – most memorably – I have peed in a hat (don’t ask. Really, don’t ask).
I’m not asking for 5 star toilet facilities, I’m relatively unfussy. The one thing I do ask for is some kind of privacy – it amazes me that in most of Ethiopia they don’t feel that a door is an essential part of the toilet experience. I really do. In one café where we stopped for breakfast, people eating had a perfect (I’m talking cinema-scope) view of anyone using the toilet as there was no door. Of course, this is fine for men, but for women it’s not ideal. Can you imagine what would have happened if I’d used the toilet? A faranji? I suspect they would have been talking about it for days.
Even when there is a toilet door, it’s rare that the door closes properly. A newly built, beautiful hotel in Lalibela has toilet doors that have to be held shut whilst you are peeing, which requires quite a lot of balance and freakishly long arms. Worse than that, the toilet doors are half glass! Half glass!! What’s that all about? Yes, it’s ‘smoked glass’ so you can’t see detail, but you can still see the shape of someone sitting on the toilet, and quite frankly, that’s not a silhouette I want anyone to see.
Once you’ve worried about showing your big (well, in my case) white bottom to the watching world, you need to worry about quite where you’re putting that bottom. Toilets in Ethiopia run the full gauntlet from ‘nice’ right down to ‘oh my God, that’s disgusting’, but it’s amazing what you can ignore when needed. I have peed (and worse) in the smelliest and most repulsive excuses for toilets I have ever seen. I can’t understand why they just don’t clean them, especially when they’re in hotels and restaurants. When I was in the South of Ethiopia, there was a particularly revolting toilet in a hotel (I’d name and shame, but I can’t remember exactly what it was called). The floor was covered with something that definitely wasn’t mud and as I gingerly tiptoed my way through it, I dropped my wrap. Argh! I could have cried. In fact, I was ready to throw it in the bin – it’s bad enough having to deal with horrible toilets, let alone carry the contents around on your clothes – but luckily there was a big sink outside and a lovely woman who managed to clean it in minutes.
So, cleanliness is not always a given, and you don’t get much privacy, even in the 3 star hotels. You don’t always get toilet paper either. When you first travel in Ethiopia this comes a bit of a surprise and you get caught short sometimes, but soon you get used to it and you learn to steal any toilet paper you come across, stockpiling it in your bag for future emergencies.
Of course, all these issues triple their impact when you start factoring in dodgy stomachs or periods – I know, I know, but nobody talks about this stuff, and it’s an important consideration. How can I go and work at the school when I might need a toilet at a moments notice, and just popping behind a tree won’t cut it? When you’re doing a 9 hour drive and the only place to pee is behind a tree – it’s not the best feeling in the world when you are fighting a heavy period. And if you’re travelling with someone, well, let’s just say that amoebic dysentery really deepens the intimacy between you. That or it ensures that you never speak again after the trip has finished.
So there are definitely lessons to be learnt from this. When traveling in Ethiopia: be prepared for some variations in toilet standards; build up those thigh muscles for the squatting you will have to do; invest in some kind of stick to hold doors closed when you need to; and always, always, always carry your own toilet paper.
30 thoughts on “Let’s talk about toilets”
We are proud of being Ethiopians and not even have toilets. Disgusting and need to rectify by campaigning. No politics PLEASE!! This is about all of us!!! It is simply each and everyone’s individual responsibility.
Nice article. It is sad, but it is the truth. I wonder when this will improve. May be we need a cultural revolution of some sort starting from the planners to the farmers.
This is really a good observation. NOt only out side Addis Ababa, but also in Addis, there is a big problem of toilet. Let alone in cafe’s, but also in three stars hotels. People pee in the center of Addis near the national palace, stadium, near Sheraton Addis, everywhere in Addis. This is what we Ethiopians are ashamed with. We really need behavioral change, like the campaign against HIV/AIDS. Nothing is worse than Addis Ababa in terms of cleanliness. Thanks.
Let us see here. this person should carry her toilet with her. What? She is comparing the developing country with hers? It is better to bury the waste instead of recycling it for a drink. recycling drinking water is a health hazard. You guys don’t even know what spring water is for chrissake you don’t even know what it tastes like. You are drinking your own you know what. Next time you go to Ethiopia, find somewhere bushy and dig some dirt and clean your lasagna from your system. It is a waste. Cleanliness is good. Dig a dirt.
You should learn from your students than teaching.
segera beyebotaw yiqofer!
wuro negn
Dealing with human waste is a very serious issue. aside from the general issue of stink and modesty it is a critical health issue. The government has to make a calculated decision weather to build sound sewer system and waste filtering facility or pay more in treating such disease brought about due to lack of decent plumbing. It is so weird to see so many high rise buildings made of glass and marble and no decent toilet or water. Priorities, priorities!
wuro,
You are wrong again. If you feel you are drinking a recycled water here in the US, go and try kebena wonz in Addis. It is full of shit. The lady made a legitimate and longover due comment and we should swallow it. Instead of defending the status quo as usual, go and build one little public toilet in your parent’s neighborhood.
Selamta
Ketema,
Good comment, but the thing is the government doesnot pay for anything. It provides neither sewer systems nor medical treatments for those exposed to water-borne diseases. It is a double standard.
Jenny,I like your toilet analysis in Ethopia,as a matter of fact it is true as well.But the issue is what do you expect from people who deprived of their existence by your governments sponsored regime in Ethiopia.What do think is the millions of dollars poured by the western countries like UK to the most hated tplf regime is doing?,you think they are foolish? .The answer is simple, they want these people to stay in poverty/destitution as long as they could and never develope or think of other issue as health…bla bla.sorry I am not trying to politicize your good article but that is the truth.
Jenny, I like your toilet analysis in Ethiopia, as a matter of fact it is true as well. But the issue is what do you expect from people who deprived of their existence by your governments sponsored regime in Ethiopia. What do think is the millions of dollars poured by the western countries like UK to the most hated tplf regime is doing? you think they are foolish? The answer is simple, they want these people to stay in poverty/destitution as long as they could and never develop or think of other issue as health. sorry I am not trying to politicize your good article but that is the truth.
Is it only when the ferenjis write critically that we understand the existence of our problems? What are our faculties being used for if they can’t see such huge fact everywhere across the nation for so long? What are we telling to others about our intellect? How do we treat those who critically write about our country’s problems to these days? It is high time to open our inner mind and start analyzing to do something.
I am very much ashamed of being an Ethiopian.Poverty or weyane.? Who to blame.?
May be weyane should give back from 30 Billon dollars invest in hygine.?
Sewer, water, school are the responsibility of the government. The citizen pays taxes and that tax dollar is supposed to take care of such important things. Unfortunately our government uses the tax dollar to wage war against neighbors, to pay security forces to watch the citizen and bribe the ‘hodams’ to follow like ship. So we have a large army with planes and tanks but no clean water to drink or waste disposal system in place. As I said it is all about priorities moreover the peasants in power are used to filth anyway, even their brain is full of filth and hate and anger forcing them to kill and imprison. They have no time to build, too busy destroying.
Just travel into the vicinity of Addis ask where a toilet is.? The answer would be SHERATON Addss only.
I wounder what would be Kuma Demeksa ‘s plan for our Capital city.?
I couldn’t agree more with the lady. I have seen the same problems in Eritrea as well. It simply is disgusting! May be – and this is a big may be – I can understand if there was some water shortage as is the case in some parts of Eritrea. But, for heaven’s sake flush or wash away the pile of “mud” that is not exactly mud. And what is it with the toilet papers? How much does a lousy toilet paper cost? Why it is almost always there isn’t any? Come on folks. This is unacceptable. This reminds me when, in 1991, I was on my way to Asmara via Nairobi, Addis. Being away from Eritrea for a long time, I decided to be nosey and checked out the airport toilets in both cities. Sure, they didn’t have toilet paper. But what amazed me most was the fact that NONE of the “ferenji” style toilets have any seats (cracked or otherwise)!. I was saddened. When I arrived in Asmara, there was no functioning toilet -. PERIOD! OK, Eritrea just coming out of a long nasty war among other things, one would have thought that Addis would fair better considering being the place of OAU, African Economic Commission, various diplomatic corps and many UN agencies and NGOs. Nop, that was not to be. Worse yet, Nairobi, with all the British crap that we all hear about and being the center of tourism, African Safari and what have you, the toilets at Jomo Kenyata Airport did not fair any better than their cousins in the Horn.
Later what I have learned is that the broken toilet seats [or non existent toilet seats] are not always the fault of the property owners – be it restaurants or airports, but lay smacks on the ignorance of its users. Unfortunately, many Eritreans and Ethiopians believe that hemorrhoids can be transferred to a healthy asshole by simply sitting (using) a toilet seat that has been used by a victim of hemorrhoids. Thus, since one may not know whether the previous user was a victim of hemorrhoid or not, one foolishly refuses to use the toilet properly i.e. they will not sit on it. Instead they climb on the seat with their shoes and crack or break the seat. Sooner or later the owners get frustrated and never bother to replace the abused seats. Now, it is beyond me, if one was going to be that stupid and believe such fiction, why not lift the seat and crouch on the toilet itself and save the untimely breakage of the toilet seat? The sad thing is, I don’t know what the Weyane government may be doing in Ethiopia, but in Eritrea I am not aware of any governmental or municipal attempt to indoctrinate the toilet seat abusers.
Another disgusting culture that should belong to the Ottoman Empire age is the piling of used “Toilet paper” [usually a piece of newspaper or grocery package paper or bus ticket – whatever] in a basket by the toilet for everyone to see and smell! The theory behind that ugly practice is reported to be an attempt to avoid clogging up the toilet. You guys may not believe this, but I have seen ordinary toilet paper (soft tissue) thrown at the unsightly basket – not to clog up the toilet…That should never be tolerated.
good observation!
There is a perception problem among all Ethiopians. We claim Addis is a beautiful metropole comparable with other African big cities, but we retreat and blame poverty when somebody brought up issues like this. The same is true with the “so-called” investors and policy makers in Addis who build glass-towers after glass-towers but do not care where their shits go. They eat, drink and party in the frontyard of their luxury homes and hotels, but they donot care about the backyard and do not give a damn thought on where their poops end up. Ketema has accurately put the fact that it is the governements responsibility to have the infrastructure in place to systematically deal with sewage and clean water. Otherwise, the current construction process is just “ye-imbuay kab”
Sad, amusingly written and so all true…mirrors my experience living Addis and traveling to various other urban and rural areas for work. Remember, from a woman’s perspective, she is right on point and that is something no man can or should find argument with!
ልክ ልካችንን ነው የነገረችን
It is good observation, we know it is a reality. Here is a long term and short term solution. For the long term the government should start a department at national level to look after public toilets. It a matter of health and dignity. I know the government doesn’t care till it gets a security problem. For our sister the short term solution is learn from your Ethiopian sisters. It is one of the reasons God create those long dresses(kemis). Next time when you plan a trip, please have one of those long dresses. Then you don’t have to hide behinde the bush, you just relax and do your business at side of the main street , no body bother looking at you. This works for only for a pee, for the real one do not eat frequently.
I hope it helps
Personal hygiene is the least discussed subject in Ethiopia. It is a sad commentary that this issue is raised by a guest in our country. The overwhelming majority of Ethiopians do not take a bath as frequently as possible. Moreover, they urinate and defecate in every corner of the nation. I have not travelled across the breath of Africa to compare Ethiopia with the rest in terms of cleanliness, but let us admit it, we are not clean. I understand that the majority of the population is dirt poor to afford even such simple things as a bath and a toilet, but that can not be an excuse in some cases. I know of Habeshas who do not take a shower for a week or so even here in these United States. We were not able to change some of our bad habits we got because of poverty even when we have the means here. Someone mentioned that we need a cultural revolution in matters of hygiene and I could not agree more. For people who can not afford to build their own toilet and a place to take a bath, the government should have built public cleaning places and charge something for it; but the question is which government? Hygiene is the least of the worries in the government’s mind. Millions are starving to death each and every single day and the government is busy trying to hide the truth from the outside world. Building as many cleaning places in the nations could be a good business venture which can also change the habits of our people in a positive way. In many places, water is not a problem and building toilets by digging a hole is not a rocket science. Let us just do it!
You guys are worried about lack of toilets but
there are people craving for food,I think toilet is not the primary necessity.Life comes first.
This is a factual article and it also is encouraging that most above commentators didn’t play the usual defensive and national pride brevado of deniying negative reports about Ethiopia. Also, it is good not to politicize the article and blame its contents for present TPLF junta who one can rightly blame them for almost all the Ethiopian ills.
However, we know that lack of toilets or other public health facilities in Ethiopia has been with us through out our history irrespective of who was the ruler of the day.
What I think is needed is cultural change in country, getting our priorities right, and massive investment in the sector of sanitation and public health. This has serious and important implications in the development and the overall well-being of the people of Ethiopia.
Hi Wuro…. Ewnetm Wuro.
This is a fact that need to be adressed. But how?
It is a heart breaking experience. Still, it is in the medieval age. Thirty-five years ago we had a visitors from the US, they stayed on one of the better hotels, guess what there was only one toilet for both gender and it was dirty, at first the ladies refused in disgust to use and it turn out they had no options. They were complaining very loud, I went to the bathroom to see, it was horrible. I felt ashamed
Some time ago I read on article, an Ethiopian man (Gashay Abbra) returned back to Ethiopia, the first thing he did was cleaning his neighbor and expanded to all levels, in the process he had had some difficulties with the town officials. The country needs more of his good example.
Yes, the municipality from each town should have given it as a necessity.
Yes, we need an attitude change (a serious one) as some commentators have rightly pointed out.
We need to change, ‘it is a shame to eat on the street, but is Ok to pee publicly’, kind of attitude.
Regards,
Mahammed
Loved this article…I was laughing my heart out. Life is difficult for a lady…going to school, I’d often see a lady shamelessly squating on of the steps of ”Seba Dereja” in the middle of Addis and doing #1…yup going all solid (those of you who attended Nazareth Girls School know what I’m talking about LOL)…but I’ve been to the McDonalds in the Frankfurt train station and that place stinks as much as the public toilet in Abiot/MesQel Adebabay…True we need to change but the gov’t needs to invest some of the money it’s stealing on toilets (yeleba legas yinor yihon?!)
We need more comments from Ethiopian Women
Hello!I have ejoyned all of your posts for the past several we are leaving for Addis this Friday to pick up our daughter!! Thanks for all the helpful posts that have really helped us prepare for our trip! And, we will be praying for a successful court date!