Hygiene Education
A child dies every 15 seconds from water-related diseases. (World Health Organization)

The simple act of washing hands with soap and water can reduce diarrhoeal diseases by over 40%. (World Health Organization)

Simply having access to clean, safe water alone will not necessarily improve a community’s health if it does not have a basic understanding of life-saving hygiene. Lifewater’s Community Health through Hygiene Program focuses on such things as the importance of washing hands, covering food, using latrines, and understanding how diseases are transmitted.

All the lessons have been developed using sound community development principles and are adapted to meet the needs of each community. Lifewater concentrates on training teachers who in turn teach the material in their communities long after Lifewater volunteers have returned home. Lifewater uses techniques and resources for the trainings that can be easily reproduced overseas, allowing the knowledge to spread quickly.

Participatory Training, the technique used to teach the lessons, allows people to identify their own problems and develop their own solutions that work best for their culture and resources. Using pictures, skits, brainstorming sessions, and questions, villagers are empowered as they engage in these activities. In the process, they discover answers for themselves. The goal is for whole communities to understand and implement good hygiene behavior, and as a result, use their new safe water supply to fight disease more effectively.

The lessons have a holistic approach, meeting people’s physical and spiritual needs throughout the training. The process helps people realize the God of all creation loves them and wants to have an intimate relationship with them through His son Jesus Christ. This realization, along with the new knowledge of hygiene and health, changes how they view the world and themselves, bringing life and hope of a better day.

“The information that we train with is life-saving in and of itself. However, for me the exciting part of the training is seeing people realize their God-given potential and gifts. They come alive and discover new things about themselves and their community as they participate throughout the training.” - Lifewater Volunteer