[narrator] water isnot only our life blood, it's the very fabricof our society. we need water to drink,to eat, to learn, to work, and even to play. we also need toiletsto keep our water and our environment clean. to keep us healthy, andto allow us dignity. while more than 600 millionpeople don't have access to what who and unicef describeas improved or protected
water sources, toilets are outof reach for many many more. 2.5 billion people do nothave access to adequate toilets. 10% of the globalburden of disease is linked to water sanitationand hygiene issues. 800,00 deaths in 2012, 640,000 of those were childrenunder the age of five. we need to talk about toilets. we don't talk enoughabout toilets. so i started thinkingwell what's a toilet.
according to thebritish medical journal, it's the most importantmedical milestone in history. it's a private and a dignifiedsolution to our bodily needs. it's a way ofdisposing of our waste so that we don't get sick. so let's talk aboutthe real value, health. everyone's aware thatthere are bugs in our guts. there are bugs in animals guts,they come out in the feces. if we're not careful, wedon't practice hygiene,
they get into our stomachsand they cause diarrhea. if sanitation is improved,then we will be able to curb or prevent thosecommunicable diseases. long time ago, when wedidn't have any tank here, our children used to drinkthe water from the dam. our children usedto suffer a lot. we had children sufferingfrom diarrhea, cholera. but now they have startednow taking clean water, those problems areno longer there.
- if you get sickyou'll have to go home and go to the hospital. and that's wastage of timebecause others are learning and they are ahead of you. sanitation and nutrition thoseare two inseparable things. there's a human potential issue. in the first five years oflife, most of the energy that's consumed goesto brain development. and there have been countlessstudies that demonstrate
that if you don'thave good nutrition, you do have cognitivedevelopment problems. and so all of these childrenwith chronic diarrhea are not reachingtheir full potential. if the kids are not healthy,if the kids are malnutreated, they can't go to school,they can't focus well, they can't think,they can't read. they can'tconcentrate in school. even if you have the nutrition,
you don't have the diarrhea, so that you can maximizeyour cognitive potential. how were you meant to learn? if you can't go to schoolbecause you're too sick. and/or you can't go becausethey don't have proper feminine hygieneresources and facilities. and how can you be taught,if the female teacher can't come in to schoolone week a month. we have children whocome from very poor families,
they cannot affordthe sanitary toilets, so you find almost in everymonth they find those girls missing schoolthree to five days, so if we can have thesanitary towels, we'll be able to help thosechildren not miss school. whenever a girlhas these issues, they come to my class andi always offer them at least, three pads, to keep thegirl going for that day. we make sure that we attendthem in the school so that
they can keep on learning. it is very importantbecause these girls will never failto come to school. girls may not get to school in the morning because they have to fetchwater for the family. if the school doesn'thave enough water,they may have to go and collect it for everyone,instead of being in class. (melodic piano music) i work mostly withkids with special needs,
with disability. but most of our schools, mostof the institutions in kenya are not friendly to peopleliving with disabilities. there's a toilet,it's not accessible. meaning they will notgo to school completely. but if we retainthese kids to school, we'll be able to catchup with the others. and they estimate thatlack of access, poor access to sanitation costs 260billion dollars every year.
to national economies. between two and fivepercent of countries' gdp lost because of lack of access,poor access to sanitation. and the consequences ofthat, through productivity. through potential, andthrough healthcare system. the only source of incomefor the parents that are not employed iscultivating the land. and they have verysmall pieces of land. they cannot afford the food,and the same food the sell
and get the extrafinances for the children. so you find it's verydifficult for them. - when we're sick and we goto work, you're not engaged. you're not working toyour full potential. it's called presenteeism, soabsenteeism is when you're sick and presenteeism is whenyou're at work or school but you're really not engagedenough because you're not feeling great. if you are not feeling good,you are not feeling okay,
you cannot perform. you cannot perform, a childcannot perform if she's sick. or he is sick, he cannot. we know that childrenwho are sick don't learn. and this could make itmore difficult to get well paying jobs in the future. people who are sickdon't earn money, and they probablyhave to spend money on healthcare and medicines.
ultimately poor healthcan keep poor people poor, and it can pull peoplewho are just keeping their heads above water,below the poverty line. there is no communitywhere there is no poverty. and where poverty is, alsodiseases arrive there. those children whoget those diseases, when you follow themup to their homes, you get the young onesare not immunized, they don't haveeven enough food,
so even to get a balanceddiet is a problem. even to get atoilet is a problem. so it is all connected. it's the few shillings thatthey had for buying food, they will spend it on medicine. or taking these kids to school. and therefore ifsanitation is improved, the economy of the countrywill go up, because we will not be going to the hospitals,kids will be very productive
because they will not missschool because of sickness. they will improve the standardof education which will eventually improve the economicstandards of the country. climate change is a threat to these ongoing solutions,and their positive impacts on health and on socialand economic development. changing frequencies,duration, and intensity of precipitation affects ourexpected weather patterns, making them more unpredictable.
heavy rains and floods candamage existing drinking water treatment, toilet and wastewater management infrastructure. while floods and droughtsaffect water availability and water quality fordrinking and domestic use, food production,sanitation, and hygiene. in the last couple of years, weather patterns havechanged quite considerably. and that's notreliable any longer. it's not predictable.
even when they come, peopleneed to find better ways of making use of that water. technical solutions are necessary, but insufficient. education, behaviorchange, and the investment in adequate resourcesrequire government action. which includes long termpolicies and planning. in most of the countriessanitation have been taken very, very seriously.
especially incanada and the u.s. but in africa and in kenya,too, sanitation is taken very lightly, you knowas long as we food you, as long as we have somemedicine in the hospital, you know as long as we pay theworkers, as long as we have good security then the restcan take care of themselves. and sanitation iskind of abandoned. for the government theyhave a lot of other needs for the schools.
so they tend to ignoreor rather forget some of these basic needs. they think aboutbuilding classrooms, building goodadministration blocks, without eventhinking about water. bringing water to the school. we have a problemwith the policy makers, within theeducational framework. because there is nomoney that is connected,
or resources connectedto health and sanitation if you are withoutwater, clean water, you are going nowhere. without proper toilets,you are going nowhere. i don't want to leaveyou in doom and gloom. yes we've got amountain to climb... but it's not just all gloomy. there are solutions out there. there are solutions thatcan generate the money
to be able tofinance themselves. there are solutions thathelp protect the environment. and there are solutions thatstart building an economy. we can change the situation. we need peoplewho are researching, we need people who are funding, we need people who are building, we need people whoare using toilets. why are we letting this happen?
how many daysare we gonna wait? how many years? let us build the capacityof our communities. let us bring hope back to them. we need to be workingwith communities, not on communities. we should takesanitation very seriously. 'cause if we joinedhearts, all of us, non-government organizations,government departments,
and everybody else that hassanitation in his or her heart, the future of sanitation inthis country is very bright. everybody needs to own this. solutions have tobe sustainable. we need to be more efficientin the way in which we spend money,particularly governments. the work of ngo's areto come in to support, to help, to work with,and to be able to leave knowing that there's a legacy.
knowing that there'ssustainability there. because ultimately, allof us bear the burden. the moral andfiscal imperative to bring sanitation everywhere. so what are toilets worth? they're priceless. (melodic guitar beat)
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