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00:04G'day folks it's Kenny Smythe here. Now I know what you're thinking. What's your ugly
00:09muck doing on me zombie box? Well some jokers in TV land reckon I know a thing or two about
00:14dunnies and when the idea of celebrating the UN year of sanitation popped into the scones,
00:19guess I got a lot with the job of hosting the show. So come and explore the septic
00:23wonders of the world with me. Welcome to my world, Kenny's world.
00:52My oh my Mumbai and what an incredible place it is. It's the second busiest city in the
00:59world and I tell you this joint makes a rock concert feel like a church face.
01:04There's almost 20 million folk living in the urban area here alone. That's about 22,000 people per
01:11square kilometer. You know when you get that many people all crammed together you'd expect a pretty
01:15top-notch sewage system organized right? Wrong. With India's population being over a billion,
01:22it's a tragic fact that over half of the people here don't have access to a proper toilet. Which
01:26means that in a place like Mumbai there are over five million people who have to do their business
01:32out in the open. I've logged here to meet up with a colorful bloke who's trying to address the
01:38problem. His name, wait for us, Pralad Kaka. You heard right, Kaka.
01:44I found the place. This place is yours, is it? Sort of. They use my name every time they want
01:50to
01:51cover themselves. Now Pralad is no stranger to the spotlight. He's a well-known local director
01:57and personality who was commissioned by a leading newspaper to make a film showcasing the sights and
02:03sounds of Mumbai, or as it's also known, Bombay. Bombay is known to be one large open toilet. Oh really?
02:10Is it? And any open space is an invitation to come and squat on. So since I'm considered anally retentive,
02:18my film was anally retentive.
02:24The commissioning paper got more than they bargained for with Kaka's Bombay. Let me tell you.
02:29Public effort, no time to shit. Come to Bombay, come to Bombay, Bombay meri hai.
02:37Bombay was a joint effort of Pralad and his longtime buddy, Java Jeffrey.
02:45A famous Bollywood actor and comedian.
02:49There is nothing so overestimated as a bad meal and nothing so underestimated as a good shit.
02:57Yeah. The Bombay song, I mean, is this something you both worked on together?
03:02Who's this project? I wrote the song. Oh right, but it was your project.
03:06He wrote the song and he saw the film and he was tickled to the core of his heart because
03:10it was
03:11just after something that he wanted to do, which is shoot a film on shit.
03:17As funny as these fellas are, Bombay was not designed to get laughs.
03:22The funny part about the business of open-air shitting is that when you first come to Bombay
03:27as a visitor like you are, it hits you in the face. Not only the smell but also the sights.
03:32This exists. Don't whitewash it. If you can't do anything about it, cool.
03:37But don't pretend that it doesn't exist.
03:47Pralad then invited me back to his house for some tea, a chat and a squeeze at his ass.
03:52Now it turns out the awareness of India's toilet problem is not the only charity work he does.
03:57Pralad's also been called a professional sperm donor.
04:00No, I'm not a professional sperm donor because you get paid for it. I do it out of the goodness
04:05of my heart.
04:08I don't think the goodness is coming from your heart.
04:12Your surname, Kakar, is it a little bit ironic that you're the one that chose to do Bombay?
04:17Bombay.
04:17The shit story you said.
04:19Well, you know, it was ordained. It was destiny.
04:25First, it started off as a joke. But as we got deeper and deeper into it, into shit, as it's
04:31called.
04:31Yeah, yeah, yeah.
04:31We realized that the tragedy of the business of shitting outdoors, you know, every time we have a monsoon
04:38and every time the waterways, they're flooded. Floods are full of fetal contents and everybody falls in.
04:44So, the women in this country who don't have toilets to go to, it compromises their dignity.
04:49They have to go in the cover of darkness between two and five in the morning, in groups of fours
04:53and fives.
04:54This is the only time the people living on the streets, the women, go to the toilet.
04:58It's between two a.m. and five a.m.
04:59Five a.m.
05:00Whether they need to go to the toilet during the day or not.
05:02That's exactly it.
05:02For their sake of dignity or pride.
05:04Dignity, privacy and safety.
05:08So, are you the lone ranger on this topic?
05:10Is there anyone else that's trying to back you up on this or support you or is there another voice?
05:15There are lots of people who want to put up toilets.
05:18But everybody's into it like 10 toilets, 20 toilets, 100 toilets, 200 toilets.
05:25The need of the hour is 20,000 toilets.
05:28Right.
05:28And the fact is that if you try and pussyfoot around this whole issue, I think it'll only water it
05:35down.
05:35The fact that it's unacceptable in a film should make it unacceptable in reality.
05:40Yeah, that's the part I find strength.
05:42So, it has to get to the public for them to react and revolt and say,
05:47this is revolting and this is unacceptable and we need to change this.
05:51Well, mate, it's been a pleasure.
05:52Thanks for a great day.
05:54Thank you very much.
05:55Yes, power to the sinker.
05:58Put that on a t-shirt.
06:02Coming up, I meet the beautiful scavenger women of Elwha.
06:06Good morning.
06:08Good morning.
06:29Having survived this sacred cow stunt track, we arrived at Rajasthan, which is about 170,
06:34I think they're trying to kill me metres, out of Delhi.
06:38The driver dropped me off in the town of Elwha.
06:40When I asked for directions to my hotel, he then smiled, wobbled his head and drove off.
06:46Oh, boy.
06:48Now, I'd be lying if I said I wasn't a little nervous walking the dusty and dark streets,
06:52but like most joints, it wasn't long before I found a helpful and smiling face.
06:57Turns out I was only a block away from my hotel and Dr. Suman Char was patiently waiting to greet
07:03me.
07:03She's going to introduce me to India's version of the night cartman.
07:08Only it won't be night, and they're not men.
07:16There you go.
07:18There you go.
07:40The people who are in the street have for generations been the sanitation workers of Elwha, moving from
07:45house to house for moving waste with little more than a brush and a tray.
07:49They are known as the scavengers and traditionally society has treated them as outcasts, impure,
07:55dirty and tragically as untouchables.
07:57Well, not in my book.
07:59Oh, hello. Pleasure. Good morning.
08:17I reckon the Indians must get a giggle out of the running of the bulls.
08:20They don't run from any of them.
08:21In Australia, if we saw a big animal like that, we'd be terrified.
08:25We'd be very scared, but not here.
08:27They're very pleasant.
08:30No worries.
08:31Come in.
08:37Now, I've been cleaning Dunnies for many years.
08:40But what these women have to deal with on a daily basis is absolutely heartbreaking.
08:49Sadly, the class or caste system here means that once society has branded them as untouchables,
08:55there's little hope of escape.
08:57It's a terrible cycle that they're born into, and it just keeps repeating itself.
09:03It's almost impossible to believe that these beautiful women could be seen as outcasts.
09:12What impressed me the most about these ladies was their unwavering grace and dignity in the face
09:17of such shock and conditions.
09:19And so these ladies have been doing this all their life?
09:23Yeah.
09:24Are they very young when they start?
09:25Very young.
09:27With their mothers.
09:28Right.
09:29And then with their mother-in-law.
09:31Work is transferred from generation to generation.
09:35To generation.
09:35They work every day, all year.
09:52After you.
09:54Now we are going to their houses.
09:57Oh, right.
09:57Okay.
09:59They are fantastic to watch their faces change as we got closer to their homes.
10:03Hey guys, how are you doing?
10:05Do you want to say, man?
10:06You know, their smiles just got brighter and brighter.
10:09And so did mine.
10:09Hello, you again.
10:10It's amazing, but you seem to find the happiest smiling faces in the most desperate of places.
10:16When there is a cause to smile, these gorgeous people don't open.
10:19We seem to have gathered a few extra people along the way.
10:22The kids are coming with us.
10:23I feel like Santa Claus.
10:26It's hard not to be affected by this.
10:27A kid would get more to do on a paper end of Australia in one day.
10:30And his mum's working every day collecting other people's faeces, you know, and not one day off.
10:37Oh, hey mate, how are you doing?
10:39They invited me into their homes, which were spotlessly clean and very welcoming.
10:43And delicate little cups.
10:44We look like we're in the land of the giants.
10:51She's saying, I want to be in your centre.
10:54I want to leave this in human work.
10:58Isn't that fantastic?
10:59We've come here to have just a cup of tea and meet the family.
11:02And already three ladies have already come up to the doctor and asked to be a part of the program
11:07at the centre to try and get them out of this work.
11:08And she said yes.
11:10So pretty soon they'll be a part of the program.
11:12You have to rehabilitate them also.
11:14Yeah, yeah, yeah.
11:15So that they can live their life with dignity.
11:18Dignity, absolutely.
11:19Exactly, yes.
11:20Danya Vogue, it was wonderful.
11:21Thank you very much.
11:25Now I'm used to keeping a smile on my doll, even when I'm up to my neck in it.
11:29But today has really put me to the test.
11:32I just can't imagine what these ladies and their families have been through.
11:37But as I was about to discover, for many of these women, a new life is just around the corner.
11:46Oh, this is it. This here, the Sulab International Social Service. That's it there.
11:54This is one of the Sulab centres, established to help these ladies leave the life of scavenging behind.
12:07Okay.
12:09Oh, it's a pleasure.
12:11Hi, guys.
12:15Mr Kenny.
12:17Good morning.
12:18Good morning.
12:20They are preparing...
12:21Here they can get an education and learn various handicrafts and trades.
12:25Many of the products they make and the services they provide here are sold to locals to fund more
12:30centres like this one. It's a win-win situation.
12:32It smells fantastic.
12:34It's very tasty.
12:43Not great.
12:44Good.
12:47I think I'd better leave it to the experts.
12:57And the women wear these beautiful aqua saris as a symbol to all of their renewed empowerment
13:02and rehabilitation, all thanks to the centre.
13:05Temporary tattoos.
13:07Yeah.
13:07The hand painting, they do that for festivals and special occasions and weddings, is that...
13:12Yes.
13:13So they've gone from being untouchable to now being requested to come and paint hands for
13:19celebrations and weddings.
13:20Yes, yes, yes.
13:21That's fantastic.
13:23It's a country of contrast, you're right.
13:25I started the day wanting to cry and now all I want to do is sing.
13:29See you, bye.
13:32Next up, I meet the man dedicated to changing the world of sanitation.
13:40I'm in Delhi heading to the Sulab organisation where they're about to hold the World Toilet
13:45Summit and Expo.
13:46I've met some great people in my time but I think you're one of the greatest.
13:50This is Dr Bindeswar Patak, founder of Sulab, who has dedicated his life to liberating the
13:55untouchables and solving the country's sanitation problems.
13:59This is the biggest demonstration of septic toilets I've ever seen in my life.
14:03Dr Patak became famous 30 years ago for developing the low-cost Sulab public toilets
14:08and now his dry toilets create fertiliser, purify waste liquids and even generate electricity.
14:14You won't be able to call it human waste anymore, we'll have to call it human useful.
14:18It is human gold or whatever most precious item you can think of.
14:22And of course they have the best toilet museum in the world.
14:25We have tried to trace the evolution of the toilets and we found that the sanitation system
14:32started in India, 2500 BC.
14:36It's funny, nearly every country I've visited reckons they've invented the world's first
14:40flushable crapper. So the question is, who was the first?
14:44There you go Toby, I hear this belongs to you.
14:46Yes, the Chinese had a running water toilet as far back as 200 BC.
14:52Ah, but it seems the Romans just beat them by a couple of years,
14:56with dunnies flushed by an aqueduct.
15:00Actually the Minoans, in ancient Crete, were way ahead with a jug-flushed toilet in
15:05Osses Palace around 2500 BC.
15:10Okay, so now the ancient Egyptians got their flushed toilet act together around 2507 BC,
15:17early March, on a Tuesday. Congratulations mate!
15:20Hello!
15:22Now I don't think anyone's going to top Gronk and Gronka here,
15:25it's the very first thing for me.
15:27Unbelievable.
15:28You know, the truth is, we may never know who came up with the first flushable toilet,
15:32but one thing's for sure, from the moment the very first fudge nugget hit the ground,
15:36we've been trying to get rid of them, and good on us.
15:40The Sulab Expo and Summit has attracted dignitaries from all over the world,
15:45and it's the biggest day on the dunny calendar.
15:48Even old Captain Pooxie here got a look here as well.
15:52And this year, Sulab's special guests are none other than the rehabilitated Alwa Scavenger Women.
15:58What an absolute honour to be photographed with these wonderful people,
16:01even if I do stand out like a butcher at a ballet dance.
16:06You made it!
16:09You look fantastic.
16:10The Sulab organisation also have a fantastic school.
16:14This is where all the kids are.
16:16Yeah.
16:16I've been looking forward to meeting the kids.
16:21Fantastic!
16:24Ah!
16:25Ah!
16:26Yeah!
16:26Yeah!
16:27Fantastic!
16:28Fantastic!
16:45Wow!
16:49I wasn't expecting that.
16:51That's, uh, clean the toilets, look where it's got me.
16:53Unbelievable.
16:56And now, the whole reason I did the toilet tour is about to start.
17:01The title of this summit is World Toilet Summit, and we will spend two days talking about toilets.
17:07My first World Toilet Summit.
17:10And trust me, that's bloody bigger than Ben Earth.
17:13Ladies and gentlemen, I welcome you to the inaugural ceremony of the 7th World Toilet
17:19World Toilet Summit.
17:24It was great to see the smile and face of the World Toilet Organisation's Jack Sim.
17:29That wasn't until I remembered his parting words to me back in Singapore.
17:32You should go on stage to tell everybody what you're doing.
17:35I'm not very good at the public speaking.
17:37I'm, you know, I don't mind having me say, but I don't think we'll leave the states here.
17:40Don't worry about it. You can do it.
17:42And sadly, they hadn't forgot the conversation either.
17:46I don't know whether it's here, but I've got to make a speech at the summit.
17:49Have a look at this place.
17:51I'm a plumber, I'm not a prime minister. This is unbelievable.
17:55Even the Elwha women seem more or easier than me.
17:58So Gandhi had a wish that this can just still be on a par with the highest person in the
18:04country.
18:08I have come to my university.
18:12I was born in such a year,
18:15that I was working on my own work.
18:20And we came in a lot of trouble.
18:37As inspiring as the speakers were, I just couldn't concentrate.
18:41What the hell was Jack thinking asking me to make a speech?
18:49As luck would have it, my speech is until tomorrow.
18:52Which leaves me the whole night to freak out.
18:55How many scavengers would there be in India?
18:58What's the number?
19:04I spent the whole dinner chatting to people and trying to brush up on my knowledge.
19:08Problem was that one person I needed there to help me remember us hadn't arrived yet.
19:19I can't tell you how excited I was to finally have my girl Jackie here in India.
19:23Wouldn't you believe it? They put us on separate tables.
19:26But let me tell you, we made up for it all night long.
19:29Working on the bloody speech of course.
19:34Coming up.
19:34Mr Kenny Smith.
19:36This is my big moment in the spotlight.
19:38Here we go.
19:41This is a big day.
19:42And I've been up all night with Jackie working on the presentation.
19:48Get him.
19:48Mr Kenny Smith.
19:50I'm going to be honest.
19:51I'm sitting myself.
19:53Oh, fantastic.
19:55G'day.
19:55Gee wheeze, eh?
19:57My name is Kenny Smyce.
19:59And it is a tremendous honour to be here at the World Toilet Summit.
20:03Make no joke about it.
20:05There are many hilarious and interesting anecdotes that can be told about toilets.
20:08And as we say in Australia, it's a great equaliser.
20:11It's a great leveller.
20:12But I've found in my travels, there's nothing equal about the access to toilets in this world.
20:22So, come and join me on this challenge.
20:25Sanitation for all mankind.
20:28If we can change the world together, just one toilet at a time.
20:33And you know, that sounds a little bit like a song.
20:35And I think that's a very good idea.
20:37Ready?
20:38Thanks, Toby.
20:40Might be time to have a bit of a sing.
20:43I'm just a humble Aussie plumber.
20:49But I know a thing or two about a touchy little subject that's all too often called taboo.
21:01There's no reason to be embarrassed.
21:07It's a natural thing we do.
21:11It's a universal function that we all call number twos.
21:21Because my mum did it, dad does it, I do it too.
21:28How about you, eh?
21:32I bet you do.
21:34You don't have to be embarrassed.
21:36All together.
21:37Monday we talk, Tuesday we do it, Wednesday, Thursday too.
21:43How about you, how about you, how about you?
21:45Oh yeah, I bet you do.
21:49I bet you do.
21:51In the year of sanitation, one thing is solid fat.
21:58That across this global village, smells perfect.
22:02We're united by one act.
22:05Some stand for it, sit for it, bend for squawty too.
22:20Queen does it, her son does it, her mechanics and corgis too.
22:26What about you, what about you, oh yeah, I bet you do.
22:32It's my toilet time.
22:34Try not to do it, stop to do it, see what becomes of you.
22:41You'll turn blue, I promise you.
22:48My mum did it, Dan does it, my son does it too.
22:55Ones and twos, yes.
23:01Wheeze and poo.
23:09Thank you very much.
23:13Sweetheart, let's go, let's go.
23:15We're good.
23:16Thanks mate, thank you.
23:17I haven't got to go.
23:18Yeah, go mate, you're alright, go.
23:19Sorry, we'll see you back in Melbourne.
23:22You've got enough footage haven't you?
23:23We've been filming for months, you'll be right.
23:25I'll see you back in Melbourne.
23:28Oh boy, we're away.
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