Jimmy Kimmel is confused. The American talk show host doesn't understand why UNICEF would need to make a video called "Take the poo to the loo," or why the city of Ahmedabad is now offering to pay people to urinate at a urinal or why Indians in general don't use toilets. And instead of trying to find out about it, Kimmel decided to make a funny video.
"Funny" might be a relative thing here. UNICEF's "Take the poo to the loo" video is pretty silly, intentionally so, but the rest of the video simply has people in ridiculous accents, more Apu from The Simpsons than Rajesh Koothrapalli, making jokes about poo. The conceit of the joke video is that it is a Public Service Announcement from the Ahmedabad City Council encouraging people to not let their "waste go to waste" and instead get "rupees for poopies".
Your mileage may vary, but in fact, quite a few people were unhappy with Kimmel.
In the very middle of the video, though, Kimmel actually ends up asking an important question, one that even lots of Indians don't entirely understand. Speaking right after the UNICEF video, a bewildered Kimmel asks: "Why does this needs to be taught?"
Reality check
Indeed, why does using a toilet need to be taught? Kimmel is incredulous about the people of Ahmedabad choosing not to "take their poo to the loo" and instead, defecating and urinating on the streets out of choice.
The reality is of course a little different.
Westerners, and many Indian city dwellers, might take toilets in houses as a given, but vast swathes of Indian households don't have them, or a functioning sewage system. The simple way to make this clear is to point out that more households have cellphones than toilets, with up to 70% of rural people and even 13% of urban residents resorting to open defecation. This is why the current government, like the one before it, has gone on a drive to build as many toilets as possible, with many pointing to the need for Indians to build toilets before temples.
But Kimmel's question turns out to be even more pertinent, because studies have shown that even when there is a toilet in the vicinity, people prefer to go outside. One survey pointed out that of the households with working latrines, 40% still had one member who resorted to open defecation. The reasons for this are complicated. For some it actually is a matter of preference and convenience, for others it's a question of attitudes towards sharing latrines.
Either way, teaching Indians to use latrines once they are accessible is one of the biggest policy questions the country has, and it's one that Ahmedabad is trying to fix. Kimmel might have been joking around, but how to make sure people take their poo to a loo turns out to be a very important question.
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"Funny" might be a relative thing here. UNICEF's "Take the poo to the loo" video is pretty silly, intentionally so, but the rest of the video simply has people in ridiculous accents, more Apu from The Simpsons than Rajesh Koothrapalli, making jokes about poo. The conceit of the joke video is that it is a Public Service Announcement from the Ahmedabad City Council encouraging people to not let their "waste go to waste" and instead get "rupees for poopies".
Your mileage may vary, but in fact, quite a few people were unhappy with Kimmel.
This is what happens when ppl without knowledge on issues make crappy videos. Laughing at poverty Cash 4 Poop http://t.co/JfZkx2tWTn
— Bloodu! (@roopak999) June 21, 2015The @jimmykimmel video is so offensive. Makes it sound like ppl in Ahm’bad prefer to defecate outside, despite having access to toilets.
— Vidya (@VidyaKrishnan) June 22, 2015
Very poor taste, @jimmykimmel. Watch @iamjohnoliver to learn how to make fun of foreigners without being a dick. https://t.co/hPGFfOn3Ti
— samit basu (@samitbasu) June 22, 2015
In the very middle of the video, though, Kimmel actually ends up asking an important question, one that even lots of Indians don't entirely understand. Speaking right after the UNICEF video, a bewildered Kimmel asks: "Why does this needs to be taught?"
Reality check
Indeed, why does using a toilet need to be taught? Kimmel is incredulous about the people of Ahmedabad choosing not to "take their poo to the loo" and instead, defecating and urinating on the streets out of choice.
The reality is of course a little different.
Westerners, and many Indian city dwellers, might take toilets in houses as a given, but vast swathes of Indian households don't have them, or a functioning sewage system. The simple way to make this clear is to point out that more households have cellphones than toilets, with up to 70% of rural people and even 13% of urban residents resorting to open defecation. This is why the current government, like the one before it, has gone on a drive to build as many toilets as possible, with many pointing to the need for Indians to build toilets before temples.
But Kimmel's question turns out to be even more pertinent, because studies have shown that even when there is a toilet in the vicinity, people prefer to go outside. One survey pointed out that of the households with working latrines, 40% still had one member who resorted to open defecation. The reasons for this are complicated. For some it actually is a matter of preference and convenience, for others it's a question of attitudes towards sharing latrines.
Either way, teaching Indians to use latrines once they are accessible is one of the biggest policy questions the country has, and it's one that Ahmedabad is trying to fix. Kimmel might have been joking around, but how to make sure people take their poo to a loo turns out to be a very important question.