Micah Challenge Australia Blog

 

The Micah Challenge blog is a space for discussion and debate about the issues of global poverty, faith, advocacy and justice and the Millennium Development Goals. This blog aims to provoke thought and challenge you to learn more about the issues discussed. We welcome your comments.

Micah Challenge is a global campaign of Christians speaking out against poverty and injustice. Click here to visit the Micah Challenge website.

  • 2.5 billion reasons to sit on a giant toilet

    Posted by Ben

    26 June, 2012

    You may have seen the image of Independent MP, Rob Oakeshott, on a giant toilet in the media lately. It did the rounds of the Sun-Herald, The Age, Crikey and Twitter. It was featured in a website launched by the National Party to attack Mr Oakeshott. We understand that the National Party intends to campaign hard against Mr Oakeshott in the seat of Lyne. Fair enough. That's what political opponents do. But we were disapppointed that the Nationals attack website badly misrepresented the photograph. Rob Oakeshott took his seat atop the novelty toilet in support of a campaign to provide decent sanitation to the 2.5 billion people worldwide who don't have it. Diarrhoea is the second largest killer of children worldwide, and causes the deaths of more children under the age of five than measles, malaria and AIDS combined. Almost all of these deaths are caused by lack of access to – or poor quality – water, sanitation and hygiene. Surely this issue deserves the attention of our elected representatives. And rather than be ridiculed, they should be… read more

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  • The Toilet Tour begins

    Posted by Simon

    28 May, 2012

    It was quite a sight to behold at the local park in Tamworth this weekend – the Deputy Mayor sitting on top of a Giant Toilet, with Tamworth’s longest ever toilet queue lined up behind him. For those who were just passing by, it would have been quite an amusing sight. I can just imagine conversations across the dinner table that night, ‘You'll never guess what I saw today…’ However, this event was about more than just turning heads. It was about Tamworth residents giving poverty the flush, by standing in solidarity with the 2.5 billion people across the world who do not have access to adequate sanitation. The Giant Toilet was in Tamworth to mark the start of a national toilet tour to raise awareness of the lifesaving impact of improving access to drinkable water and safe toilets in poor communitities globally. In Tamworth, the Giant Toilet was one of the major attractions at 2012 LifeFest, a free community festival hosted by local Tamworth churches. From start to finish kids were getting their photos taken with the toilet -… read more

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  • Confessions of a first time letter writer

    Posted by Laura

    11 April, 2012

    I think the last time I went to Canberra was back in 2002, for a Year 6 excursion. Back then, the highlight was, undoubtedly, Questacon. I love that place! A few weeks ago, I spent two days in Canberra, but this time I was at Parliament House with the WASH Reference Group - representing 26 water and sanitation NGOs and academic research institutions. We met with politicians, and government agencies, with the specific purpose of talking about water, sanitation and hygiene. I'm far from being an expert at water and sanitation. But the more I'm learning about the impact that simple sanitation measures can have on the lives and well-being of people in the developing world, the more I'm becoming a fan of focusing our attention and aid dollars on that sector. The WASH Reference Group includes a huge range of expertise - engineers, public health practitioners and researchers, with specialties and experiences a number of different of countries, contexts and program types. The overwhelming feeling is that money spent on water and sanitation, is money well… read more

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  • Confronting?

    Posted by Erica

    13 September, 2011

    My home page on my computer is The Guardian Global Development site. This is the kind of world news I really value, focusing on global development. Much of what I encounter and read daily sticks in my mind and is something I carry with me in my heart. I cannot read about global challenges and injustice without my heart being affected. Recently, I viewed images of what unsafe water and poor sanitation looks like in Uganda. I feel confronted and challenged by these images. We were in Uganda earlier this year, so I when I looked at these images I pictured the places that we walked around and the people that we met there. But also I think of India, and of all the people who live without a toilet. I remember the smell and the shock of seeing communal open toilets. I think of the toilets we have used when travelling, and yet how much better it is to have horrible toilet than none at all. Globally, 2.6 billion people live without access to a safe toilet, while almost 1 billion don't have clean, safe water. The WHO estimates that 10% of the global disease burden… read more

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