Engaging children to improve WASH practices in flood-affected areas in the North
Community workers are helping families promote best WASH pratices in their homes.
Monica is 12 years old and lives in Bétou (Likouala region, North of the Republic of Congo), an area that was severely flooded in 2019 following a period of heavy rains.
Before the floods my family had no toilets and we used to go to the small forest behind our house. After the rains everything was very dirty and smelled bad and my brothers did not know where to play.
Monica
One day, the village chief came with a megaphone to tell us that some people were going to come to our village to talk about hygiene. I did not bother because I thought that that had nothing to do with me. But my mum, my dad and my Yaya (big brother) got very involved and then I became interested too.
With the support of USAID, UNICEF and his partners on the ground have engaged community members in Bétou to improve WASH conditions in the village.
As community workers started visiting the village on a regular basis to provide key info on WASH practices, Monica’s father agreed to have a bucket of water with a tap installed in the family home.
Our Dad now wants my siblings and I to wash our hands every time they are dirty, before we eat our food and after we go to the toilet.
He has also started putting a white tablet in the water we drink. He says that these tablets clean the water. We are only allowed to drink from that water now because he says that it’s good for our health.
Community workers also helped Monica’s father build a latrine.
As we have a toilet now, I don’t need to go to the forest anymore. The smell in our house is not so bad now and I can play again with my siblings in the yard. Also, I help my parents keep the house clean because it’s my responsible too to make sure that we all stay healthy.
