CES Canada Promotes Effective Hygiene and Sanitation Practice

Kenya is grappling with high incidents of diarrhea, amoeba, typhoid and cholera due to poor sanitation. CES Canada joins Kenya in its national behavior change campaign to encourage adoption of hygienic practices to reduce these infections.

Statistics from the Ministry of Health indicate that half of Kenya's population lack access to improved sanitation. An estimated 6 million Kenyans do not have latrines and are forced to defecate in the open. These people are vulnerable to contagious diseases and physical attacks.

Kenya launched a community led total sanitation program in 2011 to eradicate open defecation in villages and shanty towns. Since then 1,300 villages across Kenya have been declared open defecation free, thanks to investments in sanitation infrastructure and public awareness.

The Ministry of Health has partnered with county governments to raise public awareness on proper hygienic practices at the grassroots level. A recent World Bank study indicates that 19,500 Kenyans, including 17,100 children under the age of five, die annually from diarrhea. Childhood stunting which affects education and long-term productivity has been linked to poor sanitation.

Since 2004 CES Canada has been partnering with thirty (30) secondary schools in the western area of Kenya. The cornerstones of Education, Water, Health and Nutrition have supported a number of projects that embrace the need for a holistic approach to community development. Promoting environmental health and safety through clean water and improved hygiene is a top priority for CES.

In 2015 CES will conduct research in ten secondary schools with the intent of relying on data to improve daily hygiene practice and water consumption. This will be done in conjunction with the Masinde Muliro University of Science and Technology (MMUST) in Kakamega. The goal is to improve learning by enabling healthy students.

The focus on implementing water sanitation and hygiene programs in rural secondary schools in Kenya has been supported through a partnership with the WASH in Schools (WinS) global outreach through UNICEF. CES subscribes to its Three Star approach that describes schools in various stages of hygiene and clean water development.

http://www.scribd.com/doc/210986567/The-Three-Star-Approach-to-WASH-in-Schools

The minimum standard of a “One Star” school looks at daily routines to promote healthy habits. These include daily, supervised group hand-washing with soap, normally before the school meal.

Schools that provide on-site clean water, adequate latrines that are segregated for separate use for boys and girls, and also provide hand-washing facilities will achieve higher rates of attendance and academic achievement. Schools that provide feminine hygiene resources also report lower levels of absenteeism for girls.

In order to improve hygiene and access to safe water, CES Canada seeks to work with schools to meet essential criteria for a healthy learning environment. This approach ensures that healthy habits are taught, practiced and integrated into daily school routines. Expensive infrastructure in schools is not necessary to meet health goals. The intent is to keep it simple, scalable and sustainable.