32 girl-friendly schools in Bolivia

As you may be aware, our project in Independencia-Bolivia is about promoting healthy habits at schools, with special attention to the needs of girls. One of these healthy habits is hand washing with soap - in fact; it is one of the most effective health prevention measures of all. Sometimes we tend to think that improving health is about technology and expensive treatments, but the truth is that we can achieve a large reduction in the number of cases of diarrhea and other diseases just by washing our hands with soap (by the way: hand washing also prevents the flu, so remember to wash your hands and remember others to wash their hands as flu season is arriving...).

In order to increase awareness of the importance of hand washing, many organizations around the world celebrate Global Hand Washing Day each october 15. In Bolivia, the main event this year was organized by the Ministry of Water and the Environment, and it took place last week in La Paz. The SODIS Foundation was part of the celebration: we taught children and adults how to wash hands and how to make a simple hand washing station with a used PET bottle. We also gave out information about soap making, we had children practice and improve their hand washing technique, and we engaged many adults in conversations about hand washing, health and water.

In the pictures you can see some of the activities - of course, it also involved laughs and a lot of fun. Thanks to everyone involved, especially our partner organizations Helvetas, Sumaj Huasi, Water for People, Plan Internation and SENASBA.

Best regards from the whole project team

Matthias Saladin

Links:

• Global Hand Washing Day Website