Children mark global hand washing day

BY PHARES MUTEMBEI

Diarrhoea, skin diseases, and many other infections are caused by poor hygiene and dirty hands. How often do you wash your hands? Do you wash them after play and before eating? Do you wash your hands after visiting the toilet?

Well, our hands catch a lot of germs because of the things we touch and the dirty environment. When our hands have germs, we can easily get infected if we touch our eyes, ears, mouth and even nose. The simple act of properly washing our hands can prevent many diseases, including diarrhoea, cholera, common cold, and many other diseases.

 Thousands of children participated in this year’s Global Hand Washing Day celebrations at Ruring’u Grounds in Nyeri. The minister for Public Health and Sanitation and the minister for Special Programmes, led the celebrations, which were organised by United Nations, Reckitt Benckiser through Dettol Soap, USAid and others.

The children filled the stadium and learned about the importance of washing hands to keep away diseases. Led by the ministers, they demonstrated how to wash hands with water and soap — the simplest way of preventing diseases.

 “Our hands catch a lot of germs after sneezing or even blowing our nose. Also, we can get germs when we shake other people’s hands. That is why children should always remember  to wash their hands. If you eat food before washing your hands, it means you have eaten a lot of germs and put yourself at risk of catching diseases,” said Leshanta Wangui, a Class Six pupil at Nyeri Primary School.

“I never forget to wash my hands after playing with my friends or touching books. My books are touched by many hands and that means there are so many germs on them. I wash my hands so many times in a day because I touch dirt all the time,” added Wangui.

 Kevin Maina, in Class Five at Giakanja Primary said: “There are germs everywhere and everybody touches them all the time. They are on seats, walls, floor, door-handles, everywhere.”

He added: “ When we touch our faces, noses and mouths, these germs get into our bodies and cause diseases. To make sure we stay healthy, it is important to wash hands before and after eating food, after visiting the toilet, and after touching things.”