Hygiene & Hand Washing in Indian Slums

The Monsoon season is here in India and in full force. Indians all over are celebrating this beautiful season. However, this is a time where sickness is widespread and people are prone to air borne diseases and sickness.  Specifically, slum neighborhoods are among the most vulnerable populations to experience the most unhygienic conditions—poor sanitation, lack of access to clean drinking water, and poor infrastructure. In most slums, there is a lack of a proper drainage system, which means that flooding is prolific.  Similarly, the slums do not have paved roads and water puddles can eventually form into a sea of swarming mosquitoes and pests.  One of the most important Public Health principles within these populations is proper hygiene practices and sanitation promotion. Children are an especially important age group because educating them early on proper techniques can prevent diseases and keep them healthy. Generally, children living in slums do not have the knowledge of the proper ways to wash their hands and when to wash.  There is little to no awareness about the use of soap and its importance for preventing diseases. Slum dwellers only knowledge of soap use is that it is only customary to wash their hands after defecation. Educating children about the importance of staying healthy during the monsoon season enlightens them about germs, bacteria, how illness spreads, and ways they can keep themselves healthy this monsoon season.  

I prepared a lesson plan for the children’s groups so that they can gain awareness and knowledge about imperative principles of sanitation and hygiene. I visited two children’s groups Bal Ganesh and Ektah Bal Samu to administer the lessons. Since germs are not seen to the human eye, I thought that showing the kids how many germs do in fact exist on their hands on any given moment would be the best way to educate them. With a dab of glitter on each child’s hand, they were able to see that germs are like glitter, in that, although we can’t see them they are still there. We called up one volunteer to show us how to properly wash his hands. He told us how he would wash his hands and then we explained the proper way of doing it. Shabnam explained the statistic that there are about 50,000 germs on our hands and the kids were shocked. They we stunned to learn the impact germs can have on one’s health and what they could do to prevent themselves from illness.  Although soap is available in slum households there is a lack of its use during important periods of disease transmission. Specifically, children do not see washing hands as an important task before eating food, before cooking food, after defecation, etc. These children now have the proper knowledge to guide them to positive health behavior habits this monsoon season.