Loos Save Lives : How Sanitation and Clean Water Help Prevent Poverty, Disease and Death

Who knew toilets were so interesting - and so important?!

You probably use a toilet several times every day. Flush, turn on the tap, wash your hands - then forget all about it. But did you know that 2.4 billion people across the world don't have somewhere they can go to the toilet safely, and over 1 billion people don't have access to any kind of sanitation or clean water at all?

Poor sanitation and restricted access to a toilet is more serious than you might think. It prevents children (and especially girls) from going to school, it means communities may have to walk miles to access safe drinking water and it kills. Poor sanitation means poor hygiene, which means illnesses and viruses are more easily spread. Going to the toilet out in the open makes people vulnerable and puts them in danger.

Loos Save Lives unravels the facts about poor sanitation across Africa, Asia and parts of South America. It also highlights how the work of one charity - Toilet Twinning - is working hard to help communities build toilets and access safe drinking water, and educate people about the importance of washing your hands. The work they do transforms lives and you'll read many real-life case studies of some of the projects they have helped to build.

All in all this is a fascinating (and in equal measures lighthearted and serious) look at a very real problem facing a huge number of people. Make reading this brilliant book your number one priority - or at least your number two!

Loos Save Lives is a great, thought-provoking read for readers aged 9 and up. Perfect for cross-curriucular studies and for inspiring children to engage with charities and fundraising

Seren Boyd is a journalist and writer specialising in international development and, more recently, toilets. Her love of words comes from studying languages and spending far too long in libraries as a child. Today, as a parent, she reads in the loo.

Toilet Twinning raises funds for water and sanitation work in some of the poorest, most remote communities in the world. It helps provide life-saving latrines, safe water and essential training in handwashing, to homes, schools and displacement camps in more than 20 countries.