Coronavirus – Washing Hands

People around the world are told to stop the spread of coronavirus by washing their hands. However, the simple act of washing hands is not easy when you don’t have running water and fetching water is a tiring walk to the nearest water source.  Then the water collected is carefully rationed among family members for cooking and washing utensils with frequent hand washing well down on the list.   As the community grappled with the fear of the virus, Chosen Children staff began to educate the community on the virus and how they can conserve water using tippy taps to frequently wash their hands.

The tippy tap is a hands-free way to wash your hands that is especially appropriate in areas where there is scarcity of water. It is operated by a foot lever that reduces the chance for transmission of germs as the user touches only the soap. It uses only 40 milliliters of water to wash your hands versus 500 milliliters using a mug. We were able to distribute cans, soap, rope and information on how to build the tippy tap to our literacy class members and to over 100 families surrounding the base. We are encouraged to see the villagers using their tippy taps as well as the masks that were distributed.  As the bore hole well in the mission center is one of the few sources of water for the community, we made sure to have plenty of soap available for people to wash their hands before using the pump to draw water.