Community Health

In the areas where our WaSH (water, sanitation and hygiene) project is running, we find very high child mortality rates due to lack of basic sanitation facilities and the lack of knowledge about hygiene and disease prevention. Through role plays, interactive teaching materials and discussions, people understand the problems present in their community and can identify solutions.

Practical WaSH lessons saved a wedding: “I went to Hood Kheil to attend a wedding party. There were many people and the weather was very hot. Some children were crying there. I asked their mother what their problem was. She said that they had diarrhea and vomiting. It was late at night and nobody was ready to take the children to a hospital. I quickly prepared an Oral Rehydration Solution from boiled cold water, salt and sugar and gave it to the children to drink. After a few hours they got well and started playing. All the women at the wedding asked what I did to help those children. I told them that the WaSH project works in our village and I learned all these lessons from WaSH.”

Practical WaSH lessons are taught to community members – even the children! A woman from Etifaq village said, “My daughter who is 3 years old, wanted to go to the latrine last night. I told her to go, but my mother said, that I should go to latrine with her, because she is too small. My mother thought she would not know how to use latrine properly. I told my mother that she should go with my little daughter and watch how she uses the latrine. My daughter went to the latrine and used the toilet. When she had finished, she put water in it, washed her hands and came back into the house. My mother was very surprised to see that a child so young knew what to do. My mother was happy too!”