Providing water for sanitation does not help if communities don’t understand the importance of sanitation
itself. Educating the masses about water hygiene is a pivotal aspect of our Everyone Forever plan.
More than 37 million Indians suffer from waterborne diseases each year and 1.5 million children are killed by diarrhoea alone. All of this can be prevented by adopting basic sanitation and hygiene practices. This indicates that attention must be paid not only to access to safe water, but also to the behaviour of water users.
Water For People India educates people about water safety and sanitation. Art forms like street plays are used to convey the importance of hygiene practices like handwashing. We involve the student community through activities like setting up handwashing stations and hygiene committees in schools. Promoting girl education is a significant aspect of our community education goal. One of the biggest obstacles in a girl’s education is the lack of menstrual hygiene trainings and resources in schools. We supply these resources in order to strengthen female education across communities. Our aim is to identify the motivators for such behaviour and then to tackle them accordingly. So that all people benefit from clean water.
Here’s how we do it:
Access to safe water alone is not enough. We aim to motivate people to make the existing water safe and keep it that way. For continuous reinforcement of positive WASH behaviours like safe storage, proper usage of toilets and efficient water handling practices, we have designed an integrated approach of ‘Inspire, Activate and Sustain’. Wherein, activities like multi-disciplinary shows (Inspire), street plays and magic performances (Activate); and film screenings around water and sanitation (Sustain) are employed along with use of information, education and communication materials.
Menstruation is the key indicator of health and vitality for women and girls. Managing it hygienically and with dignity is an integral path of good sanitation and hygiene. We focus on initiating dialogue among adolescent girls and women regarding menstrual hygiene and ensure they have the necessary support to deal with it. All our school sanitation initiatives include changing rooms for girls to provide privacy and prevent them from dropping out during menstruation. We install innovative low-cost incinerators in schools to help girls manage their menstruation hygienically through proper disposal of sanitary waste. There is a special focus on empowering teenage girls through menstrual hygiene training.
Our work in schools improves sanitation and water services and promotes good hygiene practices among students. A group of students and teachers is appointed for maintaining the water and sanitation facilities provided in the respective school. We encourage students to take ownership of water and sanitation facilities by forming Water and Sanitation Committees in secondary schools and Child Cabinets in primary schools to oversee the operations and maintenance of water and sanitation facilities and promote good hygiene amongst their peers. Schools are also connected to Nirmal Bandhus (trained toilet cleaners) who are responsible for the cleaning of toilet blocks on a regular basis. Our underlying goal in providing schools with attractive and child-friendly facilities is to create pride and a sense of ownership.
Rajkiya Madhya Vidyalaya is a school in Bansi Pachara Village of Sonbarsa Gram Panchayat, Tariyani Block in Sheohar District, Bihar. It dates back to 1890. In 2017, the school turned 127 years old. Unfortunately, the school always suffered from sanitation and hygiene-related issues. Students defecated in the open, female students and teachers had no option left than taking leave or early departure during menstruation or when in need of a toilet. The girls also suffered from hygiene-related illnesses.…
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