Clean hands can save lives – in Haiti
28 Oct 2010 Water, Sanitation and HygieneHaiti
This October 15th was celebrated as World Hand-washing Day. Since its beginning in 2008 – declared as the International Year of Sanitation by the UNO – World Hand-washing Day extends and strengthens the campaign to benefit better hygiene practices all around the globe. Although people everywhere wash their hands with water, relatively few of them use soap at a critical moment, despite the fact that hand-washing with soap is hardly onerous and is amongst the most efficient methods of avoiding pneumonia or diarrhoea (including that caused by cholera), diseases which account for the majority of child deaths.
Bonjou dlo, bonjou savon, babay mikwob!
In Haiti, more than 4,000 people gathered to celebrate World Hand-washing Day with Terre des hommes – child relief (Tdh). The children from five Community Play Centres set up by Tdh in Grand Goave and Léogane, as well as children from schools in Tdh’s five areas of intervention in the town of Les Cayes, were invited to take part in this Day.
Competitions for the best soap, competitions for hand-washing, “the microbe road”, were some of the games for the kids and members of the community around the importance of this simple act, capable of saving many lives.
The teams for water, sanitation and hygiene held sessions to promote hygiene, aiming to make people more aware and to encourage everyone in the community to wash his/her hands better. It was a chance to present what Tdh calls the Tiyo Lakay (taps made at home), hand-washing operations, and finishing with simple recycled objects which anyone can fix and install at home. Children and adults tested these items with a great deal of curiosity and interest. The target of the Tiyo Lakay is to be able to wash one’s hands at home with the least amount of water and under the best conditions of hygiene.
Throughout the day, the team counted 6,632 washed hands, and distributed soap, hygiene kits and chorine for family use.
A winner of the hand-washing competition explained: “Thanks are due to Terre des hommes for this day. Now I shall pass the message on to people living around me and so help to reduce health problems in my locality”.
