Wash your hands after using the toilet? It’s crazy how simple and effective it is when you have water to do it.

Regular hand washing is one of the best ways to kill germs, prevent getting sick, and prevent the spread of germs to others. Too many people can’t wash them simply because they don’t have enough water, the means to get it, or the knowledge too.

If you don’t wash your hands after using the bathroom, the worst-case scenario is spreading germs and putting yourself and others at risk. “We wash our hands for the same reason that we flush the toilet”, or that we should rinse with a bucket of water, the rudimentary place that serves as a toilet for tens of thousands of families who do not never had the joy of having sanitation facilities where they live.

Even the healthiest people have dangerous germs in their stools. After going to the toilet, these germs end up on our hands and absolutely everything we touch, everything.

Thus, any door handle, furniture or kitchen utensil, laptop, computer mouse, pen, pencil, bottle, water dispenser and anything you touch after not washing your hands in the bathroom, will be infected with these germs. And of course, the risk of transmission to your friends, your colleagues, your wife or husband, your children and all strangers is simply enormous.

Kawan’s, 40% of the world’s population, or 3 billion people, do not have a handwashing facility with soap and water at home. In the least developed countries, this situation affects nearly 75% of the population.

Wash your hands, to preserve your health and that of others; it’s a good idea, isn’t it?

Also, be aware that you can even spread infections to yourself by touching your eyes, nose or mouth with unwashed hands. If you’re still not convinced about washing your hands, note that it reduces the number of people with diarrhoea by 23-40% and reduces diarrheal disease in people with weakened immune systems by 58%. Reduces respiratory illnesses, such as the common cold, in the general population by 16-21%. Reduces absenteeism due to gastrointestinal diseases in school children by 29-57%… Among others!

And even if your hands don’t come into direct contact with pee or poo, flushing the toilet without closing the lid spreads pathogens that could survive on bathroom surfaces for months.

And for us who have water at home, what is our role?

For you, for me and for anyone at home who has access to water for showering, washing hands or teeth. I urge you to read the following:

“- Where Fair Future and Kawan Baik work, in all those ultra-rural areas, where families don’t wash their hands because they don’t have enough water to live on, which they certainly dream of. -if only to drink more and eat better-, these families, the kids, the pregnant women, and the vulnerable suffer from significant diarrheal diseases. This initiates an extremely high rate of mortality, including infant mortality. Washing their hands, but also access to clean and healthy sanitary facilities would solve this.”

Therefore, wash our hands after going to the toilet: This will preserve our health and that of others. Besides, this simple gesture is in my opinion also a sign of good manners and respect for others, isn’t it?

What are Fair Future and Kawan Baik Indonesia doing to improve this?

This is why we carry a very large part of our budget to create “Water Connections“, in the most rural regions of eastern Indonesia. Provide equitable access to water in quantity and quality, in order to be able to wash hands, prevent diseases, reduce environmental health risks and sustain lives and livelihoods, among other things. This work is done by involving women and men in the management of water and sanitation resources and safe hygiene practices to maximize the benefits for their communities.

Thank you very much for your interest Kawan.

We wish you a beautiful day wherever you are. Remember to take care of yourself and everyone you love. It is the most important.
Alex – Fair Future Foundation – 08.02.2023, Rumah Kambera.