WASH Programme Focus
Through our work, GASS has realized that one of the biggest barriers to education is lack of clean water, no adequate sanitation facilities and bad hygiene practices.
There are multiple reasons for this. Some children can’t go to school as they have to spend time collecting water for their family, which means that they are unable to attend class. Others drink dirty water and catch waterborne diseases, which mean that they are missing school and in worst case scenario die. If there are no sanitation facilities at school, or insufficient latrines in bad condition, disease can spread and make children sick, keeping them at home and unable to go to school. For girls, there are additional barriers. If there are no gender separated latrines, many girls do not dare to use them as they are afraid of abuse. In addition to this, many girls miss out on school or drop out when they first start menstruating, especially if there are not appropriate washrooms at school. In most of the communities where we work, menstruation is highly stigmatized. This means that many girls know very little about it and few have access to sanitary pads.
This will happen if there is a lack of understanding for good hygiene practices as well, so even if a child is using a latrine but don’t wash their hands after using it or before they eat, they might also suffer from avoidable illness. Therefore, to get the maximum benefit from WASH projects, it is important to provide the following interventions:
- Water: The task of collecting water around the world falls heavily on women and girls. As the ones often responsible for collecting water, this task can take them away from work and school. When they have water, though, all that changes. They have time to work, study, and spend time with their families. We do Borehole’s repair, Borehole rehabilitation, Solar powered water Installation, water management committee training, house hold water treatment, distribution of WASH Proposition or WASH Supplies. Water treatment plan, Boreholes drilling through companies.
- Sanitation: Construction of institution latrines, public latrine, provision of hand washing facility, sanitation campaign and Encourage latrine construction in house-holds through Community Led Total Sanitation (CLTS).
- Behavior changes and hygiene promotion: We actively promote the proper use and handling of water and good hygiene practices using behavior change approaches, educational campaigns, and advocacy initiatives to equip local populations with the knowledge and skills necessary to live sanitary and healthy lives.
- Menstrual hygiene management: Around the world, taboos and stigmas around menstruation lead to a culture of silence and limited education around menstrual hygiene. Girls often drop out of school when they get their periods, so we make sure schools have the menstrual hygiene resources necessary to ensure girls can continue their education. These resources include things like education, private changing rooms, pads, and incinerators to dispose of used hygiene products. The result is girls are empowered to stay in school. We provide girls and women with hygienic solutions for menstrual hygiene management (MHM) and address the social beliefs and norms that cause stigma and social shaming related to menstruation.