Colleta Achieng, a 12-year-old living in Kisumu County, a rural area of Kenya, had no idea how important clean water was when it came to keeping healthy. But even if she had known about its importance, the chances are she wouldn’t have been able to wash her hands properly.
That’s because, according to UNICEF, around 75% of all Kenyans do not currently have access to clean water and soap at home, putting the, at risk of serious illness.
One day, however, a conversation with her friend, Faith, changed everything:
“Faith told me that if we wash our hands with dirty water, it is like we actually haven’t washed our hands. Previously, I’d used water from the lake, or from the water we use to wash our dishes. But Faith explained this was no good.”
Faith told Colleta that she’d recently had a lesson from a community health assistant who’d visited their Child-to-Child club. Not only had the assistant taught them about the importance of always washing her hands with clean water, but he’d also shown her how to construct a tippy tap from simple materials and how to refill it with clean water.
“That day we went back with Faith helped me collect materials to set up my own tippy tap. I informed my mum about how we could make our water clean and luckily Mum was able to purchase other containers we needed. Now I can wash my hands at home!”
