Every year, 1.7 million children do not live to celebrate their fifth birthday because of diarrhea and pneumonia. Handwashing with soap is among the most effective and inexpensive ways to prevent these diseases. This simple behavior can save lives, cutting diarrhea by almost one-half and acute respiratory infections by nearly one-quarter. Handwashing with soap impacts not just health and nutrition, but also education, economics, and equity.

RVCP conducted the Hand Hygiene Day at the Nyakagezi Village on the 15th May 2015. This event concluded the annual Hygiene teaching sessions that are carried out in Primary Schools and Homes through door to door teaching sessions. During the event more Hygiene education sessions were conducted, emphasizing on the importance of washing hands as one of the most basic and important prevention method. A demonstration of Water purification was also conducted as it is quite common for people in such resource limited areas opt not to purify water and as a result develop

HandHygiene Day is designed to:

Foster and support a global and local culture of handwashing with soap. Raise awareness about the benefits of handwashing with soap

This activity gathered more than 400 Primary and Secondary School Students. It was carried out simultaneously with the official inauguration of 2 VIP (Ventilated Improved Pits) latrines that are given to 4 most vulnerable families in Nyakagezi cell and Muyogoro Cell that are also among the goals of promoting Hygiene and Sanitation.