123: Caring for girls one toilet at a time by Mark Balla

10/20/21 • 41 min

Today, we continue the conversation with a man who is full of SHIT! Don’t get mad at me Mom for swearing, Mark Balla is actually the “Toilet Warrior” and has been advocating and changing the story about sanitation worldwide.

In 2013, he founded the not-for-profit “We can’t wait”. He then joined forces with Rotary and began using his business connections to Mumbai to change the reality for girls in that region and then the country as a whole.

Did you know that of the 1.4M schools in India, 400,000 of them do NOT have toilets? And the schools that do have toilets, do not have separate ones for girls.

So, why does this matter so much?

25% of girls in India drop out and skip school when they reach puberty. When their menstruation begins, its just too much to go to school and be humiliated.

Many of these girls homes also do NOT have toilets so after holding their bodily functions in all day, their desperate attempts to go to the bathroom results in 50% of sexual assaults occurring while these innocent girls are seeking a quiet place to do so.

If you want to dive deeper into this reality that’s happening right now before our eyes, read Mark’s book the Toilet Warrior or google his TedX talk to be enthralled.

As sanitation goals worldwide continued to not be met; this linguist and global supply-chain expert from Melbourne took it on. Thanks to Mark, he is proving the truth of his own TedX quote, that “Children are the most spectacular agents for LASTING change”!

The Goods on Mark:

Accomplished public speaker on humanitarian issues both in Australia and internationally, ready to change your perception of the world we live in
* Founder of a charity with an international focus on improving life opportunity for girls and women in developing countries
* A deep passion for opportunities in corporate social responsibility
* Board level experience in both for profit and not for profit environments in both Australia, India and Globally
* Committed advocate for global causes that matter
* Fluent in German, Spanish and Portuguese, conversant in French
* Inter-cultural business specialist
* Extensive experience outsourcing to China, India and SE Asia
* 15 years experienced in manufacturing, and supply chain management in China.
* Five years experience with manufacturing supply chains in India.
* Five years experienced with IT supply chain and

The Podcast's 7th Season
Welcome to In the Game, a podcast where we aim to touch, move and inspire you to what's possible in life. My name is Sarah Maxwell and I am a self-proclaimed relationship engineer. Ever since I was a little girl, I was curious about how people work and how they interact with one another. With a degree in biopsychology representing my country of Canada in beach volleyball. With a degree in biopsychology representing my country of Canada in beach volleyball, retiring from sport into mindset and purpose coaching, I now spend my days running Chatta-box Media, where we aim to story-tell for brands through the medium of podcasting, all while raising an eight-year-old daughter with my partner of 24 years. We are now in season seven of this podcast, featuring a special series on women called who Knew that Was Work aimed at young women who want to broaden their horizon when it comes to career choosing.
Go deeper into the pod and discover incredible stories of changemakers who manifest their dream lives. Gain tangible tools to apply to your own life by scrolling back to that initial season where we were more workbook focused. Have a laugh when we initially were coined the Nat and Sarah show, when my five-time Olympian partner, natalie Cook, and I bantered and had loads of fun interviewing and discovering our common passion individuals who rise to the occasion in life. Okay, now it's time to dive on in to this episode.
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Did you know that of the 1.4M schools in India, 400,000 of them do NOT have toilets? And the schools that do have toilets, do not have separate ones for girls.

So, why does this matter so much?

25% of girls in India drop out and skip school when they reach puberty. When their menstruation begins, its just too much to go to school and be humiliated.

If you want to dive deeper into this reality that’s happening right now before our eyes, read Mark’s book the Toilet Warrior or google his TedX talk to be enthralled.

The Goods on Mark:

Previous Episode

122: Dutiful Purpose with Ret'd Army Major Matina Jewell

Today, we continue the conversation with a retired army Major turned leadership strategist and keynote speaker. Matina Jewell joined the army at only age 17 where she earned nine military service & war medals before medically retiring in the crossfire of the Lebanon War – where she was actually stationed nearby on a peacekeeping mission for the UN.

Her stories will astound you but mostly bc she actually lived to tell the tales. From fast-ropping out of helicopters to making deals with warlords in the Solomon Islands to breaking her back in 5 places and still continuing to lead a convoy to safety and then somehow flying home on a stretcher with her eyes only inches from the overhead lockers on a plane for over 26hrs...this woman continues to thrive and serve through all that!

After her enforced retirement from military service, she began to piece together the aspects of her journey that could help others – finding herself on the Prime Ministerial Advisory Council as well as facilitating Corporate Teams to build their resilience. As the bestselling author of “Caught in the CrossFire”, she is a sought after keynote speaker.

Named as a Telstra Business Award Finalst, a CPA “Top 10 Australian Smart Thinker” and on the AFR 100 Women of Influence for 2018, you can see that she creates waves wherever she roams...

You ready to fast-rope down into this Matina and share some of your stories??

The Goods on Matina:

Major Matina Jewell grew up in the hinterland of Byron Bay and joined the Army at age 17. During her 15 year military career Matina:

· Served on five missions and earned nine military service & war medals

· Is the only Australian to receive two Republic of Lebanon war medals for acts of bravery on the battlefield and being wounded in combat

· Was the first woman in the Australian Army to complete the physically demanding Navy divers’ course

· Served with American Navy Seals

· Tracked-down war lords in the Solomon Islands

· Fast-roped from helicopters and boarded smuggler ships in the Arabian Gulf, and

· Was posted as a peacekeeper with the United Nations in Syria and Lebanon.

Medically retired from injuries sustained during the 2006 Lebanon War, Matina served on the Prime Ministerial Advisory Council and continues to champion change for ou

Next Episode

124: The Family-Centred Female CEO by Anthea Hammon

Today, we continue the conversation with Managing Director of the most-visited, privately-owned attraction in Australia: Scenic World. Anthea Hammon is 3rd generation Hammon family to take control of the World-Heritage-Listed Blue Mountains attraction, which has seen her navigate some tumultuous terrain these past 2yrs with devastating bush fires for months – only to be followed up with a pandemic that has crippled the entire “attractions” industry.

With a strong focus on family succession planning, she was well supported to navigate unfamiliar terrain. She has been determined to maintain the culture and iconic scenic attraction that began in 1945 when her grandfather Harry Hammon converted the abandoned Coal Mine into the Scenic Railway.

With an engineering background, she has taken her fascination for how machinery works and sculpted a working environment that includes her 2 & 6 yr old in tow - the family culture is truly felt the moment you are on site.

In spectacular fashion, Nat & I met Anthea in her natural habitat...her youngest child Hamilton in a pram being cuddled by one staff member to another, Anthea, overseeing the room that she’d organized for her community to be inspired by a heroes journey (my Nat!!) and of course her daughter Hazel running back and forth reminding us all who was really in charge! The values in her business place and living and breathing!

I am looking forward to speaking to a leader that has forged a new model – not so much deliberately but moreso organically – constantly bringing family values into the forefront and demonstrating how powerful it really can be to operate from this platform!

The Goods on Anthea:

Graduating from university with an engineering degree it seemed that Anthea’s career would be one of finding solutions to problems or maximising opportunities.

As the 3rd generation member of the Hammon family to take control of Scenic World , the last two years have tested all of her problem solving skills and then some.

Anthea is the Managing Director of what is the most visited, privately owned attraction in Australia, attracting over one million visitors annually. Set within the World Heritage-listed Blue Mountains, the company is a third generation family business. Established in 1945 (for the past 76yrs) when Harry Hammon converted the abandoned Katoomba Colliery into the Scenic Railway, it continues to be owned and operated by th