“When a missionary in the rural mountains of El Salvador, a physician came to our village and taught us all about washing our hands with soap. We listened attentively, but none of us started washing our hands—water was too scarce. We learned how to make a tippy tap: a home-made hanging water-saving device (made from a plastic jug) complete with soap-on-a-rope. It’s ideal for handwashing when water is scarce.” Maria -El Salvador
The World Health Organization says the single most cost effective health intervention in the world is hand washing with soap, which alone could cut incidence of diarrhea in half! ¹ This year WHO declared October 15 “Global Handwashing Day.” Handwashing with soap at critical times (before eating, after using the bathroom, etc) would save more lives than any single vaccine or medical intervention known to humankind, but it’s only very recently being seen as a life-saving opportunity. Germs kill many more people every day than terrorists do, but they don’t grab our attention. How do you teach people to beware of something they can’t even see? One way is to put some glitter on your hand, then shake hands with someone. Then they shake hands with someone else. Next thing you know, the 10th person down the line has glitter on her hands. Now, you’re not just talking about disease transmission, you’re seeing how it happens.
Ladies? LWI strives to involve women in teaching health and hygiene. Women in the developing world have enough men telling them what to do; they tend to feel more at ease among other women. It’s important that they feel comfortable learning these lessons, because there are more lives to be saved through good hygiene practices than through the most advanced medical technologies in the world. The most important things to teach are often the simplest—like handwashing with soap. You can change the world. Register to take LWI’s Health and Hygiene course (visit www.water.cc), then sign up for a mission trip to go teach it. You’ll make friends and find new people to love.
65,000,000,000 germ-spreading fingers. LWI is acutely aware of the need for hygiene training as a mortality reducer—there are, after all, 13 billion hands and 65 billion germ-spreading fingers in the world. We’re constantly learning new ways to communicate these important lessons to the people we serve, and are excited to see the program expanding into new countries every year. Teaching hygiene is also a chance to share our faith. Biblical truths are integrated into the course, and people experience our Lord who motivates us to serve others. The love he taught us 2,000 years ago might be the only eternal component in all our work. Our wells and tippy taps may not be here in a thousand years, but you can be sure that the love we share will be passed along.
For every home sold, a donation is made to Living Water International. Know someone looking to Buy or Sell, visit www.dawesreferrals.com to refer or Call, Text or PM Liz 954.807.1489
