By John Mulingwa, Kenya
Picture taken by Njabulo Moyo
On the picture John Mulingwa
As a public toilet operator in Nairobi, Kenya, I never imagined that there would be pay toilets in Denmark. I was really surprised to find out that indeed there are public toilets. I only thought that it existed in Africa and Kenya to be specific. I could not believe my eyes until i paid 2 DKK to access the not so clean toilets.
It is interesting that these public toilets are manned by machines, whereas in Kenya it is an employment opportunity for many people .The machines are denying many Danes employment opportunities. My other observation is that people with disabilities have equal spaces in the toilets unlike in my country, where we only have one room which has given me a reason to lobby for the increase of rooms for people with disabilities.
Another thing I didn’t see in these toilets is showers whether hot or cold, which in Kenya is the opposite. You can take a shower while on transit. I would encourage the Danes whenever they visit Kenya to at least visit our public toilets and if possible take a hot shower in any of the public toilets. Also this brings more cross cultural relations and allows for room for comparison of the welfare systems.