Beyond the Classroom Foundation (BTCF) in partnership with the Global Youth Mobilization celebrated this year’s Global Handwashing Day on October 14, 2022, at LEA Primary School, Damangaza Lokogoma, Abuja.

Global Handwashing Day is dedicated to increasing awareness and understanding about an easy, effective, and affordable way to prevent diseases and save lives: washing one’s hands frequently with soap. Celebrated annually on October 15, Global Handwashing Day was founded by the Global Public-Private Partnership for Handwashing and is an opportunity to discover and promote creative ways to encourage people to frequently wash their hands well with soap.

Through the Squeaky Clean Project, the team at Beyond the Classroom educated the children on the importance of handwashing emphasizing that poor hygiene and lack of access to sanitation together contribute to about 88 percent of deaths from diarrheal diseases, accounting for 1.5 million diarrhea-related under-five deaths each year.

The main highlight of the event was a handwashing demonstration by the Founder of Beyond the Classroom Foundation, Mrs. Raquel Kasham Daniel led by Ms. Christiana Onogwu, the Project Manager of the Squeaky Clean Project.

In her message, Mrs. Daniel, who spoke to the children at the school said that each year, children globally miss several days of school due to illnesses such as flu, cold, diarrhea, and dysentery. This also causes 16 percent of deaths among children below the age of five years. “When students have access to clean water, soap, and toilet facilities, they are less likely to drop out or miss classes due to illness. We are using this project as a means to teach and emphasize the need for handwashing for children and drastically reduce the rate of absenteeism in schools,” she said.

Speaking to Mrs. Okeyinfu Ajayi, founder of Busy Minds Schools and a member of the Board of Trustees of Beyond the Classroom Foundation, she stated that through the project, BTCF and its partners are committed to ensuring that children understand the importance of washing hands with soap as an effective and affordable way to prevent diseases.

So many organizations and schools across the world celebrated the 2022 Global Handwashing Day, using the opportunity to increase awareness and understanding of the importance of handwashing with soap as a way to prevent the spread of germs.