Why I Make Sure I Wash My Hands

Wednesday, 25 August 2004

Okay, so each time a child needs to go to the bathroom, he/she politely asks, "Toilet please?", and an adult must escort him/her to the bathroom on the other side of the building. I always wondered why Phu always wasted so much class time in the bathroom. Now I know why. Phu, who just turned 6 years old, is the youngest and most immature in the class. He barely knows any English, and he is still learning how to be a student in school. So, I go with Phu to the bathroom, and as soon as we get to the main door, he proceeds to take off his belt, throw it on the sink counter, then drop his pants, take off his shoes, leave his pants and undies on the floor at the door, put his shoes back on, then go into the stall, and sit down on the squatty potty. Now, usually people squat on the "squatty potty", as there are places to put your feet (For those of you not familiar with the squatty potty, it is basically a toilet bowl on the ground, no flush, but there is often a bucket of water and sometimes a faucet, which you can use to clean yourself and the bowl when you are finished). But, Phu (whose name is pronounced "Poo", very appropriate for this story) simply plops himself on the bowl and proceeds to drop the kids off at the pool.

Upon seeing this I realize he may not have toilet paper, as hardly any bathrooms in Thailand do. So, I go back to the classroom to get tissue, figuring he may be awhile so he won't go anywhere. In my bad Thai, called very good English, I peer my head around the corner and ask, "Are you done?". But, no response. I ask again in a few minutes, "Are you done?" I ask a third time, and figure okay, this is one phrase in Thai I should probably learn next. So, I figure I better go in and inspect the situation. With a grunting face, I see Phu still hard at work. I hand him the toilet paper, and now he has turned on the water faucet and has taken proper squatting position. After wiping a couple times, I leave and figure he should be dumping the water in the hole now, but I still hear the water going. So, I ask, "Phu, what are you doing?" He is now putting his hand under the faucet to get water and wiping his behind with his fingers. I ask Phu where the tissue is, and I see that he has used it but is now dumping it in the bucket, and wringing it out. Let me remind you that this is the communal water bucket everyone must use to "flush".

So, I tell Phu to throw the toilet paper away in the garbage can, and he begins to hold the little bucket full of water with one hand, pull up his shirt away from his behind, and splash the water on himself with the other hand. He does this several times, spilling buckets of water all over the floor in the process. Finally, I tell him he's done, and then he needs to put on his clothes. He struggles to put on his undies and his shorts (which he has now discovered that the ants have found his pants at this point), and then his belt, so he holds onto me as I help him get dressed. Finally, I tell him to wash his hands WITH SOAP.

That's why I make sure, if I have to use the squatty potty, I also wash my hands with soap (and don't forget the toilet paper), for you never know what happened in there before you!