On Hulu:

On Current TV:

Lisa Biagiotti is the producer of “The World’s Toilet Crisis,” which aired Wednesday, June 9 on Current TV.

Scribbled across the white board in Yasu Tsuji’s edit room are the words: “A toilet is not just a toilet.” The ridiculousness of this phrase has haunted poor Yasu since I wrote it (and repeated it often) back in late March when correspondent Adam Yamaguchi, producer Mitch Koss and I returned from the field.

It’s a silly statement, but for nearly half of the world, a toilet needs to be more than just a toilet — it must be exalted as a symbol of modernity, success, status — even sex.

When people practice open defecation, children get sick from fecally-contaminated water. As a result, parents miss work caring for children suffering from complications of chronic diarrhea. Medical bills mount. When teenaged girls begin menstruating, they must leave the cities and return to rural villages where there is more privacy. The cycle churns.

But preventable diarrhea deaths of 4,000 children every day, the loss of money and job opportunities and the stunting of girls’ education are not enough to get people to change behavior and adopt toilets.

We visited India to show the magnitude of the problem — 600 million open defecators — in crowded, septic cities. We traveled to Indonesia because it’s where we saw real progress with national and local governments recognizing the problem, private and public sectors collaborating to solve it, toilet entrepreneurs inventing a sanitation industry, and most importantly, people desiring to end open defecation.

It turns out, the toilet crisis isn’t really a poverty problem or a shortage of toilets problem — it’s an emotional, behavioral and cultural problem. It’s why governments and NGOs are trying to solve it with Advertising 101 tactics — creating an image to spark demand, developing the supply side and then repeating the messages to reinforce the sale of the image and the product.

We spoke to hundreds of people in reporting this story. We’d like to thank all those who eagerly led us through open fields, along river banks and around street corners to show us proof of human waste…and thank you to those who invited us into their homes for the sole purpose of toilet inspection.

Below are some special thanks and links to more toilet and sanitation information.

• Therese Dooley and the UNICEF staffs in New York, India and Indonesia
• Djoko Wartono and Vandana Mehra of the World Bank’s Water and Sanitation program
• Suryani Amin and the staff at Mercy Corps Indonesia
  Water Aid in New Delhi, India
• John Sauer of Water Advocates
• The Singapore staff of the The World Toilet Organization
• Anita Jha and Guarav Chandra of Sulabh International
• Jyoti Sharma of FORCE NGO
• Rajeev Singh of the National Confederation of Dalit Organisations
• Dowstream by the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting
• Department of Public Works (Los Angeles)
• Citra Diani for leading us to the amazing duo — Lexy Rambadeta and Dhanny Tantri
• Laura Sperrazza and Josh Novak for the month-long stay on the couch

Thank you. We hope when you watch the documentary, you’ll dream about the possibilities of toilets. We do. Even Yasu does.

Watch a Flickr slideshow from Lisa’s photos here.

For the past several months, I’ve been producing the documentary “The World’s Toilet Crisis,” which airs on Current TV on Wednesday, June 9.

It’s a documentary for all of us who use toilets and take them for granted!

But let’s not forget the 2.6 billion of us — 40% of the world’s population — who don’t use toilets and defecate anywhere we can — in streets, open fields, river banks and, most dangerously, in the very water we drink. As a result of open defecation, more than 2 million people — including 1.5 million children — die from complications of chronic diarrhea every year.

There’s no shortage of attention to the water crisis, but to be blunt, the real reason the water’s dirty is because there’s shit in the water.

So, on this week’s episode of Vanguard, we tackle the toilet crisis. We travel to India, Singapore and Indonesia to understand why people don’t use toilets and what’s being done to solve this silent (but deadly) epidemic.

“The World’s Toilet Crisis” airs on Current TV this Wednesday, June 9 at 10/9c (and at 10 p.m. pst).

Current TV channels by cable provider:
Time Warner (103 or 142)
Comcast (107 or 125)
Direct TV (358)
Verizon FiOS (192)
Dish (196)

You can also catch it the following day on Hulu. Or, download it from iTunes.

If you watch it, I’d recommend NOT sitting down in front of the tube with a peanut butter and jelly sandwich and a warm glass of milk. Actually, I’d suggest not eating while watching (period).

In the aftermath of last week’s earthquake in Haiti, the Dominican Republic has expressed solidarity with its neighbor.

Though Haiti and the DR share the island of Hispaniola, their histories, cultures and economies greatly differ. Racial tensions, stateless children and immigrant violence have created tensions along the border.

Martin Savidge hosts Marselha Gonçalves Margerin of the Robert F. Kennedy Center for Justice & Human Rights and Michele Wucker of the World Policy Institute to discuss these unequal neighbors.

The show explores:

• the intertwined but distinct histories
• Haitian migrants in the DR and Dominicans of Haitian descent
• migration and trade along the border
• the statelessness of children born in the Dominican Republic to Haitian migrants
• the role of the Dominican Republic, the U.S. and international community

MULTIMEDIA PACKAGES

Crisis in Congo — With field producers, I produced and edited videos about the humanitarian crisis and the epidemic of rape by telling the stories of two families caught up in the war. Pascal and Vestine flee from refugee camp to refugee camp, and Georgina and André explain how her rape tore apart their 33-year marriage. The “Crisis in Congo” videos won the 2009 Robert F. Kennedy Journalism Award in the international television category and were nominated for a National News Emmy in the “Best story in a regularly scheduled newscast” category.

Jamaica’s Glass Closet — I collaborated with the Pulitzer Center on Crisis Reporting on five broadcast videos on HIV/AIDS and homophobia in Jamaica. Our stories break down Jamaica’s social structure from anti-gay laws to social intolerance, we document an underground gay church service and follow a community leader as she raises awareness of HIV/AIDS. Additional online content include: articles, blogposts, a radio show and video interviews.

Stateless to Statehood — This ongoing multimedia project examines the root causes of statelessness in the post-colonial period, in the the aftermath of major wars and the break-up of empires. We’re identifying potential ways to solve statelessness via legal and political avenues, as well as exploring the themes of nationalism and ethnic identity.

VIDEO

One island, two Jamaicas and a ‘whole heap’ of difference — A public debate erupted earlier this year when graphic Dancehall music lyrics and images were banned from Jamaica’s airwaves. The public responses reveal the legacy of two Jamaicas dating back to the country’s slave history. I scripted, produced and edited this video for the Worldfocus broadcast in October 2009.

Pascal and Vestine are alive in Congo, but still not home — Michael J. Kavanagh returned to eastern Congo last month and found Pascal and Vestine. He interviewed the Bumbaris last year, and since, they’ve fled for a third time and are now in a new refugee camp. We updated this story, which aired on the Worldfocus broadcast in March 2009.

Caribbean HIV rate ranks second to Sub-Saharan Africa — Julia Greenberg of AIDS-Free World discusses Jamaica’s AIDS epidemic within the context of the Caribbean region, address anti-sodomy laws in Jamaica and around the world and identify the successes and shortcomings Jamaica has experienced in containing the epidemic. I produced this studio interview, which was published on Worldfocus.org in September 2009.

RADIO

Worldfocus Radio — I report, script and produce a weekly radio show with host Martin Savidge. We dedicate 30 minutes to under-reported international stories. Guests call in from all over the world for casual conversations on serious issues. This radio show grew out of an idea to experiment with a free, online audio platform — almost 40 shows later, it has become one of the most popular content streams on our website.

My favorite three shows:

Entrepreneurship in Ethiopia — The Ethiopian government is trying to strengthen local businesses and attract foreign direct investment. Martin Savidge hosts Ermyas Amelga and Phillip LeBel to discuss how easy it is to do business in Ethiopia and who’s investing.

Philippines — The Forgotten Terrorist Front — Since 9/11, the U.S. has stationed 500 to 600 troops in the Philippines to root out terrorists from the lawless jungles of the heavily Muslim south. Martin Savidge hosts Eliseo Mercado and Zachary Abuza to discuss Filipino counter-insurgency.

Reverse Brain Drain (China and India) — Does the U.S. risk falling behind as skilled immigrants return to their home countries? Martin Savidge hosts Vivek Wadhwa and Michele Wucker to discuss emerging opportunities for highly-skilled immigrants and U.S. immigration restrictions.

PRINT

Generations meet in Jamaica’s Chinese cemetery — I write about a visit to my grandfather’s grave in the Chinese cemetery in Kingston, Jamaica. It’s a personal story about the death and renewal of Jamaica’s Chinese community.

Conflict endures in Ethiopia’s ethnic Somali region — I interview former U.S. ambassador to Ethiopia David H. Shinn about the violent, separatist conflict in southeastern Ethiopia that has claimed thousands of lives over the last 15 years. He answers questions about the roots of this under reported conflict and whether it could be the next Darfur.

No daggerin’ on Jamaican TV and on Worldfocus — I write about why Worldfocus decided not to air daggerin’ images, addresses the realities of rampant violence and adolescent sex and explore how some Jamaican artists are singing more uplifting gospel Dancehall music.

Gay men in Jamaica must lead two separate lives — I’ve been on the “gay Jamaican” beat for two years now. Here is a story of a gay Jamaican whose story resembles many other gay men in Jamaica. He received asylum in the U.S. on the basis of his sexuality but still wrestles with issues of secrecy and religion, and his family in Jamaica still doesn’t know he’s gay.