World Handwashing Day 2012

October 15^th was World Handwashing Day, my second time I have celebrated this event in Kenya. This year I went to my friend Cassidy’s site. She is one of my nearest volunteers so it’s only about and hour and a half away. It just happened to land on market day so we set up a booth in the middle of the market and taught people the importance of washing their hands, water sanitation and also demonstrated solar cookers.

I worked the handwashing station. Nearly 6 million children a year die of diarrhea! Diarrhea can easily be prevented by simply washing your hands, food, and treating your water. We stressed the times you need to wash your hands:

Kabla ya unakula chakula (before you eat food)

Kabla ya unapika chakula (before you cook food)

Bada ya unagusa nyama (after you touch meat)

Bada ya unasalamea wtu (after you greet people)

Bada ya unaosha mtoto (after you wash a child)

Bada ya unatumia choo (after you use the toilet)

Bada ya unatoka shamba (after you are from the farm)

Anyway, I think it was a great success! So many people came to the booth and we passed out a lot of soap. Cassidy sold 3 solar cookers and we taught a lot of people about the importance of water sanitation!