We have perhaps become over-familiar with the phrase God bless. We say were blessed to have good neighbours, a new car, a nice house. The #blessed tag on social media has been linked to humble bragging. But how often do we count more basic blessings like having a toilet and clean water on tap everyday wonders that millions of people still dont have?

In St Johns Church Hall we are blessed to have toilets and clean water, but they are very old, not easy to clean, very narrow cubicles from the old school that used to be in the hall, and in desperate need of refurbishment for the comfort and dignity of all who use them from the local community groups, our congregation, and all others who we welcome into church and the hall.

Work is on-going on this refurbishment and we would like to twin all our new loos to help those less fortunate than ourselves; and for that we would like to appeal for your help.

So what is toilet twinning? Lets hear about Sitas story.

Sita sits under the huge mango tree beside her home in Ivory Coast, enjoying the sweet scent. Not long ago, the stench was overpowering: there were no toilets in the village.

Sitas children were constantly sick with diarrhoea and the family made regular visits to the medical centre for vital medicines they couldnt afford. Sometimes, the nurse would give them a weeks grace to pay. But Sita and her husband are casual labourers on the local cashew plantation and work is poorly paid and scarce.

Occasionally, they would borrow from neighbours to pay the nurse. But it was rare that others had money to spare. So the debts mounted up.

We felt hopeless, trapped, Sita says. We didnt want to live any more.

Since Toilet Twinnings partner MAP started teaching people about hygiene and sanitation, families like Sitas have built a latrine behind their home. Theres a new community water pump by the school too and a village water management committee to ensure its properly maintained.

Now, Sitas family are healthy and no longer have to spend money on medicines. They can afford to send the children to school and have started to build a new home.

Now, thank God, our village is clean, my family is much healthier and theres no more debt.

Toilet Twinnings supporters dug deep so that change became possible. Sita and her family have been blessed and they know it. Their health, hope and dignity have all been restored.

Watch the film about Sita on vimeo: https://vimeo.com/294530528