Kenya: hand washing drive aims to break Guinness world record

Kenya has played host to a number of events to mark global health days but one of this year’s events is set to make history and probably break records.

If the application for certification turns successful, thanks to Unilever’s Lifebuoy brand’s latest event to mark the Global Hand Washing Day, Kenya may be awarded the coveted Guinness World Record for hand washing.

In an attempt to break a similar record in a span of two consecutive years, Lifebuoy in partnership with Ecotact brought together 18,035 children drawn from various primary schools and a total of 1,300 adults in a hand washing drive held on October 15, 2010.

This year’s event held at Thirime Primary School in Kikuyu constituency saw all the participants wash hands from the same place with 21,000 bars of soap and 10,000 litres of water.

Health reports

“Similar competitions have been held before through the Lifebuoy brand. Last year, India was certified by the Guinness World Record Committee for having attracted the highest number of people washing their hands at the same location. This year’s event held in Kenya is awaiting certification,” said Stephanie Nganga, Lifebuoy brand manager.

“Lifebuoy brand has attempted to break Guinness World Record (TM) three times now after holding events in India, Bangladesh and this year in Kenya. But the event at Bangladesh was not certified as it failed to meet the requirements set by the committee,” adds Ms Nganga.

Locally, close to 30,000 lives are lost annually to diarrhoeal diseases. Local health reports have cited lack of proper hand washing as having contributed to the surging numbers of diarrhoeal and respiratory diseases, especially among children.

In an attempt to maintain its market presence, Lifebuoy has spearheaded hand washing campaign initiatives through partnerships with both public and private sectors. The latest of these was launched earlier in the year and was dubbed alliance for the promotion of hand washing with soap.

The alliance brings together stakeholders from various sectors, including hotels, schools, medical practitioners and aims at complementing the government’s efforts to promote hand washing.

Through the Ministry of Public Health and sanitation, the government has been running a national hand washing campaign that saw the inclusion of clean hand washing lessons in the primary school curricula to curb diseases fuelled by poor hygiene.

Source: Immaculate Karambu, Business Daily, 27 October 2010

Ghana: Kpando District inaugurates several projects

Scores of development projects in the areas of education, water, sanitation and road rehabilitation, valued at GHC282,980, were inaugurated at Kpando, at the weekend.

Six bore holes with hand-pumps were provided for five communities to serve them with potable water. Additionally, institutional latrines were constructed for eight basic schools, five of which are private schools. Two concrete water tanks were also built for the beneficiaries. Also, about 2,400 free school uniforms were distributed among 37 deprived primary schools in the 10 Circuits of the district.

The projects were funded through the Local Service Delivery Governance Programme (LSDGP), the Road Fund, under the auspices of Feeder Road, and the Danish International Development Agency (DANIDA) in collaboration with the Community Water and Sanitation Agency (CWSA) and the Kpando District Assembly.

Mr Francis Ganyaglo, Kpando District Chief Executive, told beneficiary institutions that the gesture was to improve on the basic amenities to raise their standards of living towards the realization of the “Better Ghana” agenda. He said the provision of water and sanitation facilities was to inculcate the habit of hand washing in the students to accelerate the attainment of the Millennium Development Goals.

Ms Dora Agorsor, Kpando District Director of Education, commended the government and development partners for the provision of the facilities and school uniforms to deprived pupils. She entreated teachers in the district to work extra hard towards raising the standards of education. The head teachers and representatives of the School Management Committees of the various beneficiary institutions praised the government and the Kpando District Assembly for the facilities and pledged to maintain them for present and future users. Master Felix Agbenyo, a pupil of Abanu Primary School and a beneficiary of the free school uniform, thanked the government for its initiative, which he said was an incentive for him to look decent and concentrate on studying.

Source: GNA, 26 October 2010

South Africa: Coca-Cola grant to provide better water supply for 100 schools

On 10 September 2010, Coca-Cola South Africa, The Coca-Cola Africa Foundation and the South African Department of Basic Education announced a new initiative that will provide 100 schools across South Africa with water, sanitation, and hygiene education (WASH). The US$ 4.3 million RAIN Water for Schools (RWS) project will benefit at least 80,000 students.

The project is already underway, with nine schools already receiving integrated WASH interventions. The remaining 91 schools will be served over the next two years, through the coordination of South African NGO Mvula Trust. Re-Solve Consulting (Pty) Ltd. carried out interventions in the first 9 schools.

H2O for Life, an American NGO, will be coordinating a school-to-school service-learning activity to allow
learners in the United States to learn about water issues and raise funds to support WASH interventions at schools identified by RWS.

RAIN Water for Schools forms part of Coca Cola’s US$ 30-million Replenish Africa Initiative, which aims to provide potable water to over 2 million people in Africa by 2015.

During the 2010 FIFA World Cup in South Africa, Coca Cola has pledged to donate funds to support WASH in schools across Africa for every goal celebration during the tournament. 145 goals were scored raising a total of R2.2 Million (US$ 319,000) from the campaign.

The Department of Basic Education has committed to ensuring a “safe, sustainable supply of drinking water and sanitation” at every school across the country by 2014 as part of its Schooling 2025 Plan launched in May 2010.

There are currently more than 450 schools lacking basic water and sanitation facilities in South Africa, according to the Department of Basic Education.

Source: Global Water Challenge, 22 Sep 2010 ; Bongani Nkosi, MediaClubSouthAfrica.com, 10 Sep 2010

Nigeria: FCT Area Council Commission trains 60 sanitation officers

The Federal Capital Area Council Commission has trained about 60 schedule officers in Kuje environmental health unit with a view to exposing them to the best practices in the area of environmental sanitation.

Speaking at the one-day workshop, the commission’s chairman, represented by Alhaji Muhammadu Adamu, said the workshop was organized to inculcate the awareness of national environmental sanitation policy framework unto the participants and for them to brainstorm on how to address the problems of sanitation in the area councils.

Alhaji Adamu explained that the first phase of the workshop was for top career officers, adding that the next phase will focus on in-plant training and will be for the target officers.

“A committee has been set up by the area council services secretariat to monitor and evaluate the exercise by rewarding the deserving area councils, while non-performing councils will have nothing to be cheerful for,” he noted.

Also speaking, an environmental consultant, Dr. Yomi Garnett, listed some sanitation challenges to include inadequate professional manpower, inadequate allocation of resources for environmental services, lack of mobile courts to prosecute offenders and low level of environmental awareness among others.

He said for the country to translate global commitments on sanitation and hygiene into reality, it must develop appropriate and enforceable legislations that will create awareness on environmental sanitation issues and sustainable financial resources.

Source: Abdulkadir Y. Abdullahi & Hussein Yahaya, Daily Trust / allAfrica.com, 21 October 2010

Uganda: Nation gets sh470 billion for water, energy

Uganda and Germany have signed a bilateral financing agreement worth over sh470b to support the promotion of renewable energy, energy efficiency, water and sanitation provision as well as easing access to rural finance.

The signing marked the conclusion of negotiations held in May between representatives of the two governments.

The ceremony took place yesterday at the finance ministry’s boardroom between the Finance Minister, Syda Bbumba, German envoy to Uganda Klaus Dieter Duxmann and Nobert Kloppenburg, the board manager of KfW, the German development bank.

Bbumba said the funds will contribute to the provision of safe water in the country, where currently 66% of Ugandans have access to safe water in rural and urban areas.

Part of the money will be used to support the financial sector as well as ensuring efficient use of government resources for better service delivery.

Duxmann said the basis of German relations with Uganda lies in the respect for democratic institutions, human rights, rule of law, as well as promotion of peace and stability in the region.

He commended the Government for making progress in development and achieving the targets outlined in the recently-launched National Development Plan.

On corruption, he said there is need for the Government to speed up the follow up of corruption cases as noted in the Auditor General’s report and the report of the Africa Peer Review Mechanism.

He disclosed that Germany will support the office of the Prime Minister in implementing the Peace, Recovery and Development Plan for northern Uganda and set up a programme to strengthen human rights in Uganda.

Source: Raymond Baguma, New Vision /allAfrica.com, 18 October 2010

Kenya: school children attempt to break world handwashing record

School children at Thirime primary school, Kikuyu, Kenya on Global Handwashing Day. Photo: Thomas Mukoya-Reuters

Close to 20,000 school children and adults took part in a handwashing campaign in an attempt to establish a new Guinness World Record. They gathered at Thirime Primary School in Kikuyu on 15 October 2010 to mark Global Handwashing Day.

Education Permanent Secretary James Ole Kiyiapi announced that 19,352 people, including 18,302 children and 1,050 adults washed their hands during the event. If recognised, this would break the previous record for the most number of people washing hands at a single venue set by 15,150 students in Chennai, India, in 2009. Plan Bangladesh and partners claim to hold the record for the most number of people washing hands at multiple locations, when 52,970 school children gathered across the country in October 2009.

Rwanda: “Sanitation Graveyard” video featured on Blog Action Day

The Water for People video “Sanitation graveyard”, filmed at at Ayabaraya Primary School in Rwanda, features in “Beyond the Ribbon Cutting” written by blogger Jennifer Lentfer for Blog Action Day.

When “solutions” are delivered to disadvantaged people without sufficient thought about how community ownership, maintenance, and long-term access to water and sanitation will occur, here’s what can happen:

Blog Action Day is an annual event held every October 15 that unites the world’s bloggers in posting about the same issue on the same day with the aim of sparking a global discussion and driving collective action. This year’s topic is water.

Namibia: Namibians to observe Third Global Handwashing Day 15 October 2010

Every year, more than three-comma-five million children worldwide do not live to celebrate their 5th birthday because of diarrhoea and pneumonia.

In Namibia, of the children who die before their fifth birthday, over 58 per cent die because of pneumonia and diarrhoea due to poor sanitation.

The United Nations Children’s Fund, UNICEF, says in a statement that there are no hand washing facilities in 34 per cent of Namibian schools, while 35 per cent of schools have no toilets.

Two years ago, the Health Ministry, the pharmaceutical company GlaxoSmithKlein and UNICEF signed a memorandum of understanding to kick-start the implementation of the National Sanitation and Hygiene Promotion Campaign in Namibia.

The observance of Global Handwashing Day today is part of that initiative.

Source: NBC News, 13 October 2010

More news on Global Handwashing Day 2010

Botswana: Kanye struggles with wastewater disposal

Lack of a centralised sewage system in Kanye has led to non-friendly means of disposal of wastewater, leading to fears of pollution to the ground water.

Southern District Council Chairman Leach Tlhomelang, told Minister of Minerals Energy and Water Resources, Ponatshego Kedikilwe last week at Goodhope during an emergency meeting that the village depends on pit latrines, septic tanks and soak away for the disposal of waste water, which is not environmentally friendly and poses a great pollution threat to ground water.

Nigeria: Council to enact by-law on sanitation

Chairman of Gwagwalada Area Council, Alhaji Zakari Angulu Dobi, yesterday disclosed that the council has concluded arrangements to enact a bye-law that will punish environmental defaulters in the council.

Dobi, who was represented by the council’s secretary, Alhaji Usman Yahaya, made this known at a training workshop organized for staff of the council by the health department of the FCT Millennium Development Goal.

He said the by-law is already with the legislative arm of the council waiting to be gazetted, adding that it will take care of punishments that will be meted on environmental defaulters.

The council boss informed that the council is looking at the possibilities of recycling refuse in the area in order to reduce the huge amount of money being expended on monthly basis to evacuate refuse within the council

“Our surroundings are littered with refuse and pure water bags and we cannot continue to tolerate that,” the chairman said.

The council boss expressed happiness with the task force on health of the FCT MDG for organizing the training and urged the participants to effectively use the knowledge gained from the training in tackling environmental challenges facing the area.

Earlier, the Task Force Manager Health Department of the FCT MDGs programme, Dr. Ndaeyo Iwot, said authorities at area councils have not identified, surveyed and put to use a final dump-site for solid waste with a view to developing it to a landfill site. The development, he said, is making all sanitation efforts unsuccessful.

Source: Abubakar Sadiq Isah, Daily Trust / allAfrica.com, 15 October 2010