Enraging and Engaging – Inspired by Rose George & Let’s Talk Crap…

http://youtu.be/Ixix7nMI1o8

Fact of Life:

There are 1.7 billion cases of diarrhea every year.That’s 1 in 5 children worldwide. We’ve all had diarrhea, it’s inconvenient, and annoying, but at most means a day off from work or school, a visit to the doctor, and a little medicine.  In the United States adults have diarrhea about four times a year, while children will experience the 7 to 15 episodes before their fifth birthday.

Diarrhea = Die-arrhea

Those contracting diarrhea in the developing world aren’t so lucky, diarrhea becomes a death sentence. Diarrhea kills more than 660,000 children every year, 90% of deaths are due to unsafe water, sanitation, and hygiene. Improper sanitation and hygiene lack of clean drinking water, undernourishment, and exposure to open defecation all contribute to the global diarrhea epidemic.

Lack of Sanitation

In developed countries bacteria often cause diarrhea, but here we have access to soap and clean water. In developing countries there is a lack of sanitation and hygiene, 780 million people lack access to an improved water source that’s approximately one in nine people.  While the lack of access to clean water and sanitation kills children at a rate equivalent to a jumbo jet crashing every four hours.

Toilets: A Necessity or a Privilege?

According to WorldToiletDay.org, open defecation is practiced by 1.1 billion people around the world contaminating local water supply sources and exposing others to diseases present within the fecal matter. Around the world the amount of untreated fecal matter could fill the Superdome in just three days.  And the next time your stomach gets a little upset think about the convenience of using a toilet when they have the runs, or those who would never have had that next time in the first place.

Informed & Inspired by Rose George

Have you heard of Rose George? We were informed and inspired by her TED Talk “Let’s Talk Crap… Seriously” is both an Engaging and Enraging look at sanitation in this world.