Access to clean water is only the first step in bettering community health.
Our partner WaterAid has begun to take the next step: education around good hygiene and sanitation practices through fun events and workshops!
WaterAid/Patrick Mugabonake
The Bugesera Race for Hygiene is an annual road race organised by the district and and local stakeholders that helps promote messages of good hygiene practices. This year, our partners WaterAid promoted their hygiene campaign through the race and reached 100,000 people with topics including handwashing, personal hygiene, and improvement of household toilets.
WaterAid/Patrick Mugabonake
The Race for Hygiene featured many different events from a 5km race, to a 20km race, making it accessible to people of different ages and abilities. With a wide variety of ways to participate, this also allowed for a wider audience to be reached and for the messages surrounding hygiene behaviour change to reach more members of the community.
This year alone WaterAid has already trained Community Health Workers and village leaders across 13 villages, and these incredible people have already gone on to train 1,690 people in their communities.
WaterAid/Patrick Mugabonake
A 15 year old student named Heritier from the Bugesera district was the winner of the 5km race, and this is what he had to say about his experience:
“Clean water plays a key role in our lives, we drink it, and it allows our body to hydrate and get enough power for running. It also allows us to practice hygiene by cleaning our body, clothes and look good. Today we also received messages on different good hygiene practices. For example, I captured important stages of hand hygiene like washing [your] hands before and after eating, after using [the] toilet, before preparing food”
WaterAid/Patrick Mugabonake
The Race for Hygiene is just one example of how WaterAid is helping to promote these messages. Once water is made accessible to the 46,845 people in these communities, they will be able to put everything they have learned through these events and workshops into practice.