The Toilet Situation

The toilet was, and still is, a big concern for us Peace Corps Volunteers here in South Africa. Now that I am somewhat settled into my new home in Tzaneen and at my organization, I can write a bit about the can situation.

South Africa's economic diversity is really evident in the kind of toilets people have! There are bad pit latrines, nicer pit latrines, flush toilets, and really really nice flush toilets. I had a pit latrine back with my host-family and it was...tolerable. There were chickens all around it and a goat pen right next to the structure. It was very important not to look into the toilet! As you may expect you had to bring out the toilet paper every time you needed it, thereby letting everybody know that you were going to use the toilet. Fortunately, people here don't really care that much about toilet use, which is a big difference between Americans and South Africans. I feel that, as an American, going to the bathroom is something done in the background. I was sort of embarrassed the first time I walked out with a roll of toilet paper and passed by my entire family sitting on the lawn. The neighbors also see you going into the pit latrine. Well, it just takes some getting used to!

The toilet at my house around Tzaneen is a flush toilet and inside a room--big improvements! Sadly, the person who lived there before me did not take very good care of it and it is in need of some serious cleaning and repair. I never payed much attention to the price of toilet seats in the U.S., but now they are of a big concern to me. It's certainly a luxury item that not many PCV's will be able to have. I consider myself very lucky! Hope you are all doing well.