Students Teach Parents That Hand Washing Means Health
FrontLines - June 2009
By Ashley Allen and Patricia Mantey
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Indonesia students practice testing and treating water to make it
safe to drink during a Safe Water Day event supported by USAID
and Coca-Cola.
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The H1N1 flu outbreak has health experts advising people to wash
hands frequently to stay healthy. But this practice—discovered in the
19th century as a key to preventing illness—has been part of USAID
health and education programs for years.
School programs have
become particularly useful
because students often bring
home to their parents sanitary
practices and health information
that end up helping the whole
family—messages on HIV/
AIDS, reproductive health, personal
safety for girls, nutrition,
civic education, environment,
and hygiene. Recent school
projects incorporating messages
on simple and effective environment
and hygiene practices have
reached millions in the developing
world.
Information on good practices
in water, sanitation, and
hygiene (WASH) was given
to 250,000 elementary school
students in Madagascar last
year through USAID’s Hygiene
Improvement Project. Each
week teachers review with
students three practices that
improve health: using latrines,
drinking only treated water, and
washing hands with soap.
“Before we had WASH
instruction, students were
often sick with diarrhea,” said
Madame Brigitte, a teacher
at Isorana. “Now the students
aren’t sick as much and can
study regularly.”
Diarrhea, according to the
World Health Organization,
causes 2.2 million deaths worldwide
each year. Hand washing
with soap can reduce the incidence
of diarrheal disease by 44
percent, according to a study by
the London School of Hygiene
and Tropical Medicine. |
Schoolkids in Madagascar wash their hands with soap at a
portable hand washing station.
|
During Safe
Water Day,
schoolkids in
Indonesia
try water
treated with
Air RahMat,
a chlorinebased
water
treatment
solution.
|
In Indonesia, USAID support
for the Clean, Green, and
Hygiene school program is
helping 80 schools teach students
to promote what they’ve
learned to their communities.
The SD Pertiwi elementary
school in Bandung sent 25 hand
washing “ambassadors” to a
nearby neighborhood to share
what they learned about clean,
healthy, and hygienic living and
to demonstrate the proper way to
wash hands with soap.
At the Kampung Wangkal
Elementary School near Bekasi,
Indonesia, students practiced testing
and treating water to make it
safe to drink, using Air RahMat, a
locally produced and inexpensive
water treatment solution.
In Liberia, USAID-supported
reading classes incorporate
stories about the importance of
hand washing. After listening
to a story, children are asked
questions to emphasize the
importance of hand washing
before eating and that hand
washing removes germs and can
keep the children healthy. Gib
Brown, a USAID basic education
advisor, said “schoolchildren
in Liberia have been taught
versions of a hand washing song
to sing to guests.”
In October 2008, many
USAID offices overseas and their
partners supported the first ever
Global Hand Washing Day. ★ |
Students in Sierra Leone march to support the first ever Global Handwashing Day on Oct. 15, 2008.
|
Students at the Isorana School in Madagascar use “tippy taps,” a
simple hand washing device that consists of a hanging water-filled
plastic bottle with holes in the cap to act as a faucet; soap is
provided nearby.
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by the Bureau for Legislative and Public Affairs
U.S. Agency for International Development
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