Julie Kierski

This is our bathroom.

It’s under the stairs, so the ceiling is slanted. To the left is the water reservoir. To the right is the seatless throne. Yes, the dreaded squat toilet.

The squat toilet is very easy to use. We were worried it would be a harder adjustment for Dave because squatting is rather difficult for him. Although he’s not doing a squat in perfect form, he’s figured out how to balance and not fall over!

The bathroom has running water which is an amazing luxury*. There is a spicket to fill up the reservoir, a shower hose, and a Butt Blaster (aptly named by David) to clean the butt regions.

If you don’t want to use the BB, you can use the convenient bucket of water (filled from the reservoir), the bowl, and your hand to clean the regions. It is very important to wash your hands thoroughly with soap afterward and never, ever think about what you just did.

Surprisingly, the whole not using toilet paper thing is not as bad as I thought it would be. You don’t have to remember to buy toilet paper. And practically, the sewage systems in Cambodia can’t handle the paper (or so we’re told).

I rarely use the bathroom anywhere other than at our house. But I still carry tissues in my bag just in case a restroom doesn’t have water or really disgusting water. For example, there’s this super nice, 10-story, air-conditioned mall in Phnom Penh. There are flushable squat and western toilets, sinks with running water, but no BB! Toilet paper is definitely necessary. Unfortunately, you shouldn’t throw the TP into the toilet so it goes in the waste basket. Kinda gross.

Some of the volunteers who have been in Cambodia longer say they prefer using water over the abrasive toilet paper. I haven’t quite kicked the habit yet. When we’re able to stay in a guesthouse, I forego the BB and am happy to use the light pink toilet paper supplied.

* At our training village, our house didn’t have running water. The water for the reservoir had to be carried inside in 5-gallon buckets. The water either came from the pond 150 meters away or from huge jars that collected rain water. We used a bowl to pour water over us and shower.