Children as agents of change- an intervention in Kerala (India) on WASH in Schools

1. WASH in Schools (WinS) programme has profound impact on the learning ability of children, especially for girls. In many cases, girls remain vulnerable to dropping out of schools and reluctant to go to schools due to lack of appropriate toilet and handwashing facilities. WASH in Schools (WinS) initiative in India reported to increase girls participation, develops positive hygiene behaviors, offers the opportunity to translates good practices in their families as well as in the community. It was further noted that children are found to be powerful agents of change not only in their homes but also in their community as well. In several cases, children act as messengers of “good hygiene practices” in their society to a great extent. Messages of good hygiene practices found to be well accepted by different sections of the society and have prolonged impact on the prevailing hygiene habit of the community. Handwashing with soap is a classical example of message transferred to the community by the awareness-cum-practical training of schoolchildren of higher secondary schools and observed a tremendous impact on the attitude of adults. Community members are also able to understand the dangers of poor sanitation and hygiene environment; and have attained the capacity to overcome the situation with remedial measures. In this context, the present intervention was undertaken entitled Children are agents of change- an intervention in Kerala on WASH in Schools with an objective to provide better hygiene behavior and healthy environment in schools in order to improve the quality of life of the future generation. Further, it was noted that if we provide safe water, better sanitation facilities and information on hygiene ; children will act as role models of the society and that will definitely reflects in their homes as well as in the community.

It was observed that 95% of households reported to be used to wash their hands with soap after defecation or on critical time. Further, 90% of people in the project area used to dump waste materials in designated places. Ninety eight percent were used to wash their hands before and after eating. The usage of toilet reported as 100% but only 65% of toilets observed as sanitary latrines. The usage of foot-wares in toilet reported to be 93%. The habit of daily cleaning of toilet was observed as 98%. Proper disposal of sanitary pads and other cloth recorded to be 90%. It was observed that 98% of households in the project area used to cover food items. Further, 94% used proper handling of drinking water. It was noticed that 90% households used to disinfect the dug well water by chlorination or some other ways of purification methods. The survey data indicated 95% of reduction of water-borne and water related diseases in the project area when compare with the previous five years. Another significant observation was the 100% open defecation free households in the project area.