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It is very fashionable and proper
to speak about food
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in all its forms, all its colors, aromas
and tastes.
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But after the food goes to
the digestive system,
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when it is thrown out as crap,
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it is no more fashionable
to speak about it.
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it is rather revolting.
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I'm a guy who has graduated from
bullshit to full-shit.
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My organization, Gram Vikas, which means
village development organization,
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was working in the area of renewable energy.
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For the most part, we were
producing biogas,
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biogas for rural kitchens.
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We produce biogas in India using
animal manure.
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But usually in India, it's called cow dung.
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But as the gender-sensitive
person that I am,
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I would like to call it bull-shit.
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But realizing it later on how important
sanitation was
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and the disposal of crap in a proper way,
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we delved into the arena of sanitation.
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80 percent of all diseases in India and
most developing countries
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are because of poor quality water.
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And when we look at the reason
for poor quality water,
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it is at dismal attitude to the
disposal of waste.
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Human waste, in its rawest form,
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finds its way back to drinking water,
bathing water, washing water,
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irrigation water, whatever you see.
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And this calls for for 80 percent
of the diseases in rural areas.
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In India, it is unfortunately only the
women who carry water.
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So for all domestic needs, women
need to carry water.
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It is a pitiable state of affairs.
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Open defecation is rampant.
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70 percent of rural india defecates
in the open.
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They sit there out of the open,
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with the wind in their sails,
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hiding their faces, exposing their bases,
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and sitting their in pristine glory.
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70 percent of India.
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And if you look at the world total,
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60 percent of all the crap that
is thrown into the open
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is from Indians.
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A fantastic distinction.
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I don't know if we Indians can be proud
of such a distinction.
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(Laughter).
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So we, together with a lot of villages,
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we began to talk about how to really
address this problem of sanitation.
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And we came together and formed
a project called MANTRA.
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MANTRA stands for Movement and Action
Network for Transformation of Rural Areas.
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So we are speaking about transformation,
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transformation in rural areas.
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Villages that agree to organize
this project,
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they organize a legal society
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where the the general body
consists of all memebers
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who elect a group of men and women
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who implement he project and later on,
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look after the operation and maintenance.
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They decide to build a toilet
and a shower room
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and from a protected water source,
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water will be brought to an elevated water
reservoir and piped to all households
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through three taps:
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one in the toilet, one in the shower,
one in the kitchen.
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24 hours a day.
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The pity is that cities like Bombay
do not have 24 hours water supply.
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But in these villages we want to have
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there is a distinct difference in the quality
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well india, we have a theory, which is
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very much accepted by the government
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bureaucracy and all those who matter
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that poor people deserve poor solutions
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and absolutely poor people deserve
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pathetic solutions
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this combined with a nobel prize worthy theory
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that cheapest is the most economic
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is the heady cocktail that the poor
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are forced to drink
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we are fighting against this
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we feel that the poor have been
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humiliated for centuries
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and even in sanitation
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they should not be humiliated
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sanitation is more about dignitity
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than about human disposal of waste
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and so you build these toilets and very
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often we have to hear that their toilets are
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better than their houses
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and you can see attached houses
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and the others are the tolet
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so these peopel
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without a single exception
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of a family in a village
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decided to build a toilet a bathing room
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and they come together
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collect all the local aterials
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local materials like rubber
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sand, aggregates, usually agovernemtn
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subsidy is available to meet at least
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part of the cost of external materials
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like cement, steel, toilet commode,
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and they build a toilet and a bathing room
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also all the unskilled laborers like daily
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wage earners, mostly landless
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are given an opportunity to be trained as masons
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and plumbers
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so while these people are being trained
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others are collecting the materials
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and when both are ready
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they build a toilet, a shower room
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and of course also a water tower
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an elevated water reserve
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we use a system of pitch pits
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to treat the waste from the toilet
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the muck comes into the first pitch pit
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and when it is full
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it is blocked and it ca't go to the next
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but we discovered that if you plant
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banana trees,
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papaya trees on the prorifery of these litch pits
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they grow very well because
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they suck all the nutrients
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and you get very tasty bananas, papayas
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if any of you come to my place
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i would be happy to share
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these banns and papayas with you
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so here you can see the completed toilets
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the water towers
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this is in a village where most of the people
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are even illeterate
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it is also 24 hours water supply
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because water gets polluted, very often, when you store it
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a child dips his or her hand into it
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something calls into it
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so no wateris sotred
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its always on tap
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this is how elevated water reservoir is contructed
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and that is the end product
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because it has to go high
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two or three rooms are made available
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under the water tower
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which is used by the village for different committee meetings
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we have had clear evidence of the great
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impact of this program
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before we started
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there were, as usual,
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more than 80 percent of people suffering from water born diseases
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but, after this,
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we have imperial evidence that
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82 percent on an average
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among all these villages
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1,200 villages have completed
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82 of them their water born diseases have come down
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applause
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women usually used to spend, especially in sumer months
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about 6-7h hours a day carrying water
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and when they went for carrying water
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because, as i said earlier,
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its only women who carry water
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they used to take their little children, girl children
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also to carry water
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to be back at home to look over the siblings
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so there was less than 9 percent of girl children
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attending school
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and boys, about 30 percent
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but girls, it has gone to about 90 percent
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and boys, almost 200 percent
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applause
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the most vulnerable sections in the villages
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are the landless laborers
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because they have gone through this training
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to be masons and plumbers
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and barbenders
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now, ability to earn has increased 300-400 percent
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so this is a democracy in action
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because there is a general body
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a governing board
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the committee people are questioning
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people are governing themselves
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people are learning to manage their own affairs
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they are taking their own futures into their own hands
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and that is democracy at the grassroots level in action
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mosre than 1, 200 villages have so far done this
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it benefits over 400,000 people
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and it's still going on
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and i hope it continues
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to move ahead
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for india and such developing ocuntries
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armies and armaments
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software companies and spaceships
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may not be as important as taps and toilets
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thank
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thank you very much
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applause
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thank you