Xixian Shanshe is a well-known inn located in Gannian, a village in Dalong Town, in Guang'an, a city in Southwest China's Sichuan Province. During the most recent May Day holiday, visitors noticed a special toilet had been built near the inn. The toilet, in fact, is a research project completed by a team of girls. 

Researching techniques used to develop and manufacture toilets has been a hot topic in environment-related research. Such research involves exploring environmental science, environmental engineering, environmental and public sanitation, human engineering, aesthetics and sociology. 

In April 2022, China Women's Development Foundation (CWDF) launched a scientific-research project, with the theme "toilet can be beautiful." The project was part of the fifth phase of STEM Girls, a CWDF program searching for sci-tech women talents for the future. Girls from secondary schools, nationwide, were recruited to participate. 

Sixty girls participated in the project during their summer vacation in 2022. They conducted field research, and they collected samples from public toilets, to complete their design of a sci-tech-based, ecologically friendly toilet. Last year, the girls completed their site selection, detection, drawing and other basic preparations ahead of the toilet's construction. In April this year, the girls completed installation and testing of key components of the toilet, and they optimized the toilet's overall layout. In May, after construction was finished, the toilet was formally put into use. The girls like to call it "beautiful toilet of Xixian."

STEM Girls, launched in 2018 by CWDF, with support from Samsung China, is a public-welfare program particularly benefitting girls between the ages of 12 and 16. Divided into several phases, the program provides online courses to teach science, technology, engineering and math (known as STEM). The program helps the girls learn basic, science-related professional courses and conduct relevant research, inspire their interest in science, and encourage them to include sci-tech-related jobs into the planning of their future careers. To date, STEM Girls has had a profound influence on more than 7,000 secondary school girls from 24 provinces, municipalities and autonomous regions across China. 

Last year, Su Hanxi, a girl who participated in the construction of the "beautiful toilet of Xixian," shared her story during an event cohosted by UNDP and UN Women. "Members of our team wrote a long report during the initial step of our research. At first, we were all satisfied. But soon after we read the report, carefully, we realized many of our assumptions lacked the support of statistics," Su recalled. 

"Before the final construction, we did a lot of experiments. We completed every step, with great caution. From calculating the ratios of various samples, to confirming precisely the figure at each percentage point, every seemingly minor mistake might affect the result of our whole research. The program I participated in urged me to care more about people's practical needs."

Zhou Chuanbin, a researcher with the Research Center for Eco-Environmental Sciences, under the Chinese Academy of Sciences, was one of the teachers who guided the girls during development of the "beautiful toilet." As he spoke of the girls' performances, Zhou noted, "The girls hoped to create something more than a toilet. They wanted to construct a toilet that would integrate well into the eco-environment of its location. By taking part in such a research program, we, as teachers, hoped the girls would enhance their confidence in identifying scientific issues, and in finding solutions."

During the years of her evolution from a junior high school student to a senior high school student, Su participated in various research programs, ranging from ecological-environmental protection to garbage sorting and toilet transformation. "Many of my teammates and I are senior high school students now. The toilet we designed can only serve people living in the community near that inn. But, I believe, if we start from caring about the problems in our surrounding areas, and if we continue lending a helping hand to people in need, we will gain sound development of ourselves," Su says.

Photos from China Women's Development Foundation

(Women of China English Monthly June 2024)

Editor: Wang Shasha