Youngsters from a Worcestershire Baptist church went for the bottom line in highlighting the issue of sanitation in the developing world.

The group from Bewdley Baptist church presented a petition in the form of a toilet seat to their local MP.

The petition stated that more than 5,000 children die every day due to a lack of clean water and sanitation.

It urged the MP – Dr Richard Taylor – to raise the issue with the Government and encourage it to honour its commitment to the Millennium Developments Goals.

The youngsters had obtained the signatures of 80 members of the church for their creative petition.

The petition was part of a national campaign by international development charity Tearfund aimed at highlighting the injustice of water and sanitation issues in the developing world.

Dr Taylor said he would ‘gladly’ raise this issue with the relevant government minister and present him with the petition, ‘although it might have to be a copy though, as I’m not sure he’ll accept the toilet seat!’He added, ‘I’m very aware of the high death rates among children in sub-Saharan Africa due to water related causes and fully support the promises and actions of the government and the international community to alleviate these problems.’

John Rhodes, community pastor at Bewdley Baptist, said, ‘This just goes to show how young people can and do make a difference.

‘All too often they are given a bad press, but again and again our young people keep surprising us with their desire to help those less fortunate than themselves.

’The youngsters are now challenging other people across the district to stand up and say that 2.5 billion people living without basic sanitation is out of order.

Back in October the same group took part in another Tearfund campaign where they built and lived in a slum for 48 hours to raise money and awareness of global poverty.

To find out more about the campaign visit Tearfund Youth or Soul Action

(Article courtesy of THE BAPTIST TIMES. Click here for so much more!)