The Hapee Commode. Shit for thought.

The Hapee Commode believes that the vision of an open defecation free society cannot be realized through government’s mass-scale programmes alone. It requires the energy and support of individuals who need help but more importantly those, who can help.

We might want to close our eyes and pretend that open defecation doesn’t exist, but it is already affecting us and our children in more ways that we know.

Even though sanitation is a basic human right, one in three people in the world still don’t have access to a safe and clean toilet. In India, the situation is even more shocking – one out of every two people in India are actually pooping outside!

Lack of sanitation is a serious problem. Girl children are deprived of formal schooling just because they don’t have a toilet facility in school. Over a 1000 children die everyday due to diarrheal deaths caused by poor sanitation. Lack of sanitation also leads to malnutrition and stunting in children. Women and girl-children, in the absence of a toilet at home, are forced to relieve themselves in the open under the cover of darkness. This is a serious threat to their dignity, safety and reproductive health. Open defecation is also contaminating our fresh water – people are falling sick too often and spending more on their health!

Clearly, open defecation affects all of us – and this problem will not go away unless we ensure that every individual in our living environment has access to a safe and clean toilet. We, at The Hapee Commode aspire for a world where all men, women, transgenders and children including the elderly and differently-abled have access to a safe and clean toilet as well as a proper hand-washing facility.

Over the next few months, The Hapee Commode will create a platform where we will share stories from the field and ask you for solutions to people’s problems. We hope you can be a Hapee Member of our platform! We don’t care if we come together in real or virtual space. As long as we share the same dream, we can be sure of moving in the right direction.

We know shit can’t happen overnight. But here’s an opportunity to make a beginning. So join us in our pursuit for ha-pee-ness!

Please subscribe to our blog for regular updates. Write to hapeecommode(at)gmail(dot)com for more information or for volunteering opportunities.