This project provides practical training, hand hygiene awareness education, and accompanying visual aids and educational manuals to children at risk of illness through the transfer of germs at school. Hand washing correctly with soap and water can protect one in three young children who get sick with diarrhea and one in five young children with respiratory infections like pneumonia. This emphasizes how important it is for children to learn how to wash their hands as early as possible.
In school, children are exposed to germs and bacteria that they wouldn't usually come across at home. Since children are curious and love exploring things by touch, this can cause their hands to become a breeding ground for germs and bacteria and they transmit it to others by contact. Without proper hand washing, they can become seriously ill or die from communicable diseases. Also, children absent from school or weak from illness are incapable of learning and in danger of developmental delays.
Hand washing or hand hygiene is the act of cleaning hands to remove soil, dirt, and microorganisms. Hand hygiene is the single most effective action to reduce school acquired infections. It is important to note that water alone does not clean hands effectively, and over 75% of people either do not wash their hands at all or do not use soap to clean their hands properly. We will train children and teachers on the 2 ways to get clean hands that can keep away infections and disease.
In line with SDG goals, this project will improve water and sanitation as well as hygiene practices as a strategy to advance community health by educating children in school and their teachers. We will reduce illness and days of school missed and increase each child's ability to be successful in their education and impact the entire community when children take home hand-washing skills. This project targets communities with cholera outbreaks in the past to prevent future occurrence.
