Celebrating Global Handwashing Day: Clean Hands Save Lives

Every year, on October 15, organizations worldwide celebrate Global Handwashing Day to spread awareness about the importance of washing hands to prevent diseases and save lives. From a young age, children in the U.S. are taught to wash their hands at critical times throughout the day and have the resources they need to do so. But for those who grow up without access to safe water or hygiene facilities, this is not the reality. Keeping hands clean is difficult when there is not enough water or soap.

In the rural community of Lodwar, in the Turkana region of Kenya, the climate is arid, and water is scarce. Like so many around the world, children in this community lacked basic hygiene services at school. Patricia teaches at Comboni Girls Boarding School in Lodwar, where she has been the headteacher for eight years. Despite the school’s efforts to serve girls in the community, the students often grew sick from a lack of safe water and hygiene facilities.

A total of 646 million children globally—one in every three—lack basic hygiene services at their schools, including handwashing stations, water access, and soap. According to WHO and UNICEF, 406 million of those have no hygiene facilities at all. “Our school’s objective is to help the most vulnerable girls in the community, [but] the water system was a problem,” Patricia shared. According to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, washing hands with soap could have prevented diarrhea in one in three children and respiratory infections in almost one in five children globally. These two illnesses alone kill 1.8 million children under the age of five every year.

Water Mission recognizes that holistic water, sanitation, and hygiene (WASH) solutions include more than access to safe water. They also include access to sanitation and hygiene facilities, education, and behavior change. In 2016, Water Mission started working with the community of Lodwar to get safe, clean water flowing in the community.

Our team implemented a safe water solution and installed tap stands in critical locations—including schools—for people to wash their hands. The project serves more than 850 children at Comboni Girls Boarding School. During the COVID-19 pandemic in 2020, the need arose for more hygiene resources. “[Water Mission] came and brought us handwashing facilities to set up in our community,” Patricia said. “They brought masks and disinfecting spray. They told us to disinfect before using the taps.”

Proper handwashing facilities and hygiene education transformed the town of Lodwar, especially during the COVID-19 pandemic. The girls in Patricia’s school no longer have to worry about where their water comes from, how to stay clean, or when they will get sick next from water-related illness. “Water Mission was an angel—an angel that was sent at the right time,” Patricia rejoiced. “Everything was done so well in the project. Since Water Mission came, we’ve never gone back to the problem with water that we had before.”

Thanks to the generous support of friends like you, the people of Lodwar now have enough water to wash their hands at any time, significantly reducing the risk of water-related illnesses. Join us in celebrating Global Handwashing Day by helping save lives through safe water and hygiene solutions.