“Washing hands with soap can reduce the risk of diarrheal diseases by 42 percent to 47 percent, and interventions to promote handwashing might save a million lives.” ¹

Handwashing is a simple practice that is proven to save lives. In many countries, people are aware of the need to wash their hands to stop the spread of disease, but they fail to do so because it is inconvenient. In many places in our world, there are much greater obstacles to proper handwashing. Obstacles may include a lack of knowledge about germs and disease transmission, the high cost of soap relative to household income, the scarcity of water, and/or cultural practices that discourage handwashing. Solutions often require a great deal of effort.

Lifewater’s Handwashing at Critical Times course trains in-country partners to teach local communities the importance of handwashing and to empower community members to establish realistic, practical ways to overcome the obstacles they identify. The participatory lessons are designed to teach community members how water-related diseases are transmitted, how to block disease transmission through washing hands, and how to effectively share this information with their families and neighbors.

An overview of all three Community Health through Hygiene Modules are included in our stateside Community Health through Hygiene course.

This program is implemented by Lifewater’s volunteer field trainers and staff for the purpose of building the capacity of our national partners. For information on US-based training opportunities in this program area, see our Stateside Training section.

¹Curtis, V., and, S. Cairncross, 2003. “Effect on Washing Hands with Soap on Diarrheoa Risk in the Community: A Systematic Review.” Lancet Infectious Diseases 3: 275-81.