Clean hands, bright future

Fragrance, aged four, lives with her grandparents on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands. Fragrance’s kindergarten has no proper sanitation or water source nearby. The community she lives in practices open defecation and collects water from potentially contaminated streams and wells in the bush for washing, bathing and even drinking. These are the kinds of harmful practices that affect the health of children like Fragrance and robs them of their educational opportunities. 

Recently, Fragrances’ kindergarten was selected among others to participate in the World Vision Solomon Islands Better Learning Environment Project (SIBLE). Supported by UNICEF, the primary goal of the SIBLE project is to improve the health of boys and girls and their learning performance by reducing disease and illness that results from poor hygiene practices through the introduction of proper hand washing methods and facilities.

“The free stand hand washing stations are very effective,” shared Genesis, the school head teacher and Fragrance’s grandfather. The school organises the students to wash their hands twice a day, most importantly after they use the toilet and before and after they eat. The students have also begun sharing what they have learnt about the eight basic hand washing methods in their homes and other communities they visit.

Genesis shared a surprising encounter with his granddaughter one evening when they visited a relative at a nearby community. As they settled in for dinner, Genesis sat down and immediately reached for his food when Fragrance yelled out to him in front of everyone, “Grandad, have you washed your hands already?  At school, we must always wash germs from our hands before we eat.” Genesis was very impressed that his granddaughter remembered what she had learned from the project activities in school. “Because of what she said, we ended up talking about hand washing methods and the importance of hygiene over dinner that evening,” shared a proud Genesis.

“We are very pleased to have World Vision here to share the importance of hygiene with the children in our school,” said Genesis. Fragrance's school is one of 15 participating in the SIBLE project that did not previously have proper water supply infrastructure in place. The SIBLE project is sharing new ideas with community members to improve their way of living.