Resource Equality – International has always included a hygiene education program along with our water filter distribution and clean water programs. Our main audience is school-age children, so we use a mix of media and communication styles to present our information.
We play a couple of short but fun CDs about hygiene and then play a question and answer game about how clean is clean. Our presenters do demonstrations with soap and water and someone always gets wet – which the kids love. It’s all good fun, but it’s also serious business.
Basic knowledge and understanding about the connection between hygiene and disease can save lives. The simple act of washing hands with soap (or ash, or earth) and water after going to the toilet is estimated to reduce diarrheal disease by a third. (who/unicef 2002)
More than 6,000 children die every day from diseases associated with lack of access to safe drinking water, inadequate sanitation and poor hygiene. In developing countries, about 80% of illnesses are linked to poor water and sanitation conditions. (who/unicef 2000)
