PHOTOS: Peep At The Toilets Of 7 Families Around The World

By Greta Jochem / NPR

Published November 19, 2017 at 1:00 AM PST

This story was published more than 7 years ago.

This is likely a pit toilet. The idea is that there's a giant hole underneath the toilet. It's from Revben and Havenes Banda's home in a rural village in Malawi. They live with their five children and five grandchildren; their monthly income is $50.

If you search for images of "toilet" on Google, you'll get a page of sparkling white ceramic toilets.

That's the typical toilet for people in a high-income country. But not every toilet looks like that.

To get a better idea of the range of toilets around the world, take a look at Dollar Street. It's a project that catalogs everyday objects — like toys, soap, stoves and of course, toilets — to provide a snapshot of life at different income levels across the globe.

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The project was created by Anna Rosling Ronnlund, the co-founder of Gapminder, a group that uses infographics to explain the world. In 2016, she commissioned photographers to take photos of objects in over 264 homes in 50 countries.

Here is a selection of toilet photos from Dollar Street. Jennifer Foster, a technical officer for PATH's WASH portfolio, a global health nonprofit, provided insights into the different types of toilets. Foster works on public health issues — primarily water, waste treatment and sanitation projects.