ONE of Evelyn Waugh’s more eccentric characters, an old Africa hand, went to desperate lengths to prevent anybody else from sharing his Bush Thunderbox, an elaborate chemical-flush loo.

Now Oxfam is launching a Christmas appeal to take a modern version of the Thunderbox back to Africa – but this time for use by Africans. The charity has enlisted the actresses Helen Mirren and Helena Bonham-Carter and the singer Will Young to persuade us that, instead of splashing out on an iPhone or a Nintendo Wii games console, we should pay £50 to give a latrine for Christmas.

Oxfam officials say they hope to raise enough money for up to 26,000 latrines over the Christmas period, to be installed in 49 developing countries. As well as Africa, some will be given to communities in south Asia, the Middle East and South America.

Other “ethical” gifts in Oxfam’s Christmas catalogue include parcels of condoms, at £24; agricultural fertiliser, at £38; and Aids-prevention classes for young people, at £72. Goats were the most popular gift last year, and 2,400 have been bought this year, at £25 each.

The campaign asks Britons to spare their loved ones the misery of “rubbish presents” and instead buy them gifts that are “life-changing”.

Stephen Harvey, the manager of Oxfam Unwrapped, says recipients will receive a card saying that a loo is being installed in a developing country on their behalf. “It’s fun and novel and provides a talking point for friends and relatives receiving them – but the impact is far-reaching, improving the lives of untold numbers of people around the world.”

Another Oxfam official said: “It’s money down the toilet, but in a good way.” £50 pays for a standard pit latrine, built with local materials and labour.

Jane Cocking, deputy humanitarian director at Oxfam, says they have a drastic impact on water-borne diseases such as cholera, typhoid and dysentery.

Latest estimates by charities such as WaterAid and Tearfund show that 40% of the world’s population (2.4 billion people) are affected by poor sanitation. Diarrhoea caused by poor sanitation kills 2m children a year globally.

Cocking said: “Malnourished people become susceptible to water-borne diseases, which result in deaths.”

Oxfam is actively building latrines in Darfur, Sudan. In the Abu Shouk camp, the charity has built 1,139 of them and replaced 182 full ones to prevent the spread of disease.

Elsewhere in Africa, the charity WaterAid uses a travelling marionette show with messages from Mr Clean and Mr Dirty characters, drumming home the importance of hand-washing. The children are encouraged to pour scorn on Mr Dirty when he clutches his stomach with diarrhoea pains.

In Waugh’s Sword of Honour trilogy, the comedy of the Bush Thunderbox turned on the obsessive efforts of Captain Apthorpe, a sufferer from Bechuana tummy, to defend his privacy. In the end, the contraption exploded.

Cocking said that, in the developing world, there were also “culturally sensitive” discussions about the merits of using toilet paper or water.

Schoolchildren in Tumet-Bariya, northwest Ethiopia, are benefiting from the construction of 10 latrines. Asiya Etenin, 15, one of the pupils benefiting from education provided by Oxfam, said: “There was no school, no potable water, no latrine and sanitation, no education in our locality before Oxfam.”

Ed Black, 34, a marketing manager based in Oxford, who bought an Oxfam latrine for his parents last Christmas, said: “Normally, we buy them materialistic things they don’t need like classical CDs. My parents found it amusing, but there was a serious side to it as well.”

Oxfam ran into strong criticism for last year’s scheme to send goats to the developing world. The World Land Trust accused it of being “utterly cynical” for brushing aside warnings that goats can add to problems of drought and desertification.

John Burton, director of the trust, said at the time: “It may be a pleasing short-term fix for milk and meat for a few individuals, but in the long term the quality of life for these people will slowly be reduced with devastating effect.”

Oxfam is hoping to raise £14.5m with this year’s Christmas campaign.

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