What makes a winning haiku?

Hmm. I should know, shouldn’t I? This is DefeatDD’s third Poo Haiku campaign, so I’ve had plenty of time to think it over.

Do the best haikus have the highest data-to-syllable ratio? Kat Kelley’s haiku hit it out of the park by referencing new diarrhea data published earlier this year. But then the emotion Alanna Imbach conveyed when she put us in the shoes of a girl risking her safety just to find a toilet makes me stop every time I read it. Oh, but then Laura Edison’s diarrhea/#2 pun was so clever!

I guess in the end, there’s not just one answer, but many… kind of like the solutions to defeat diarrheal disease! Each haiku plays its part – using information, emotion, and wit – in service of the ultimate goal: demanding greater attention to and investment in diarrheal disease.

I’m pleased to present our 2017 Poo Haiku calendar feature poo-ems and poo-ets, in no particular order. Use these poo-ems as inspiration to craft your own #poohaiku to commemorate World Toilet Day on November 19th!

Just six pathogens
But eighty percent of kids'
Diarrheal deaths
@_KatKelly

Poo here and there
Makes for illness everywhere
Poo belongs in the loo
@AnitaEDD

Clean water, vaccines,
Sanitation and hygiene:
Things that can save lives.
@DebunkedByHaiku

A vicious cycle
Gut damage, malnutrition
We can halt the churn
@HopeLizzy

Of infections that
Kill kids, diarrhea is
Number 2. No joke.
@lauramedison

1 in 3 people
Do not have a place to poo.
Let’s make a big stink!
@PlanUSA

You say it is gross;
I say it is important:
Diarrhea talk.
@_anna_shaw

She is just a girl
Out looking for a toilet
Trying not to fear
@AlannaImbach

Zinc plus ORS,
Pennies for recovery,
Must reach all children
@amayaerika_

Go now, Mister Poo
Hurry, quick to the toilet,
When done wash your hands!
Katie Doyle, 5th grade

How much could you do
with vaccine protection and
no worries from poo?
@sabinvaccine

Use soap and water
Kids grow taller and stay strong
Diarrhoea gone
@LoriaKula

Reaching the last mile
With new, lifesaving vaccines
We can defeat DD
@VillageReach

Feeling inspired? Let’s continue to flood Twitter with #poohaiku. We need to talk about diarrhea if we’re going to defeat it!