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USAID RING Presents 40 Institutional Hand Washing Stations To Ten Institutions

By Abdul-Rahaman Abdulai
Regional News USAID RING Presents 40 Institutional Hand Washing Stations To Ten Institutions
OCT 8, 2015 LISTEN

The Sagnarigu District Assembly in collaboration with the Resiliency in Northern Ghana (RING) project has presented 40 Institutional Hand Washing Station equipment valued at GHC13,625 to ten educational institutions in the Sagnarigu District in Northern Region.

The equipment are to help promote and inculcate the habit of hand washing among the school pupils and the general public.

The educational institutions are: Kalpohin Anglican Primary School (A), Yong-Duni Naayilifong D/A Primary and Kindergarten, Wovogumah Anglican Primary School, Taha Islamic Primary and Kindergarten, Damankuyili 1 RC Primary and Kindergarten, Kulaa Anglican Primary School, Sorogu Primary and Kindergarten, Gbrima Islamic Primary School, Sanga M/A Primary and Kindergarten and Nangbagu-Yepala Primary School.

Speaking at a ceremony to demonstrate proper hand washing to the school pupils, staff and management of the schools and executives of the Parent Teacher Associations(PTA), the Environmental Health Officer in-Charge of School Health at the Sagnarigu District Assembly, Madam Carine Boduweh said Keeping the hands clean is one of the most important steps to avoid getting sick and prevent the spread of germs to others adding that many diseases and conditions are spread by not washing hands with soap and clean running water.

Madam Boduweh advised the school pupils to wash their hands with soap and clean running water before eating, handling raw and cooked or ready-to-eat food, after going to the toilet, after using a tissue or handkerchief, after handling rubbish or working in the garden, after playing and handling animals especially pets.

Madam Boduweh also advised teachers and parents to encourage and make hand hygiene a regular practice and habit among pupils in schools and family at home. “Hand hygiene should be practiced every day,” Madam Boduweh stressed.

Receiving the items, the Headmistress of Wovogu Anglican Primary and Kindergarten, Madam Salamatu Issifu thanked the United States Agency for International Development (USAID) and the Government of the United States of America for their kind gesture and promised to put the equipment to good use as well as imbibe the habit of hand hygiene in the pupils through regular hand washing. Madam Issifu appealed to parents to explain to their children at home why it is important to wash their hands, and should set a good example by following a hand-washing routine at home. “Tell your children it is important to wash their hands after using the bathroom, after sneezing or blowing their nose, and before eating, after playing and handling their animals especially pets,” Madam Issifu stressed.

For his part, Mr. Andani Z. Abdulai of the School Health Education Program (SHEP) of the Ghana Education Service praised the USAID for the RING project and said the project since its inception had helped improved sanitation and hygiene in schools and communities.

He said the RING project would continue to collaborate with the Districts Assemblies to improve access to sanitation facilities through Community based initiatives to construct latrines using locally available materials at the Household and community level through Community Led Total Sanitation, WatSan Committees, borehole repairs, rehabilitation, promotion and provision of rain harvesting systems in schools and communities.

RING is a USAID-funded project. The intervention is implemented through a collaborative approach with 17 District Assemblies (DAs) in the Northern Region and the Northern Regional Coordinating Council (NRCC) to improve the livelihood and nutritional status of vulnerable households in targeted communities of the region.

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