Why we should talk more shit

I chose this talk given by Rose George in February 2013. A "curious Journalist", she cares about topics that we are unaware but always surrounded of. In this talk about the humble latrine, she presents the dangers that derive from bad sanitation in a very engaging way. It is 14 minutes long.

Rose George - Let's talk crap. Seriously.

Summary

In the what she calls the "flushed and plumbed world", people think of toilets as their rights rather than what they actually are - a privilege. A shocking 40% of the world's population lack decent sanitation which leads to diseases like diarrhea, killing more than 4000 children a day. Sanitation can not only improve hygiene and thereby save lives, it can actually keep girls at school (who, without a toilet, are likely to drop out by the time they reach puberty and start menstruating). By bringing the toilet out from behind the locked door and making it conversational, Rose George thinks and hopes that sanitation does indeed become a right rather than a privilege.

Vocabulary

Open Defecation: 

the practice of defecating (pooping) outside. This is still part of the lives of more than 1 Billion people. By doing that, people are prone to contaminate their water supplies, food and environment with diseases that may be hidden in fecal particles. And because people without sanitation usually don't wash themselves after finishing their business, these particles stay on their hands and feet.

feces: 

medical term for poop

(the other) WTO: 

World Toilet Organisation. Their whole focus is on sanitation and toilets. They try to raise awareness and break the silence to improve the worldwide toilet and sanitation conditions.

communicable disease: 

a disease that is infectious and transmissible among people

Personal Reaction

As you have probably guessed, it was the title that drew my attention. I clicked on this talk because I kind of wanted a distraction, something funny, because I had already watched too many serious talks on serious problems. What a fool. 

The sheer extent of this problem is just very shocking. It is just like she says, we have locked it out of conversation and out of our minds, even though the toilet is something we use several times a day. Before, I had not really given sanitation that much thought. I knew that not everybody in the world has even a rudimental kind of toilet, but I didn't think that this was so crucial to (a child's) health. 

I think we should all "talk shit". This is definitely something that is worth more attention.

Presentation

Rose George has a very blunt, funny, and yet serious way of communicating her ideas. She starts the talk by telling the audience how she one day used a public toilet and then found herself "plunged into the world of sanitation". 

She manages to make the talk both funny and educational at the same time. By making japes and using colloquial language she gets the audience to laugh, catches their attention, and the next moment she shows them shocking statistics. 

I also liked her relaxed way. Throughout the whole 14 minutes, she stands at the same spot and seems very calm and confident.