Peace Corps Mali 50th Anniversary

Katherine Promotes Hygiene Behavior Change

Katherine, a Peace Corps Volunteer in Mali, Successfully Promotes Hygiene Behavior Change

Katherine, a second-year Water and Sanitation Volunteer serving in Mali, has spent much of her service promoting hand washing with soap.  In the four years of Peace Corps presence in her village, the number of people who wash their hands with soap before eating has increased by over 42%, and the number who their wash hands after defecating has increased by 39%.  Multiple community members have come up to Katherine and told her that since they began washing hands with soap they rarely have to run to the bathroom, and their children get sick far less frequently.

Katherine’s work has included three approaches:

1. With her work partner, demonstrating the importance of hand washing even when hands feel clean by having participants rub hot pepper on their hands.  The activity worked well because it connected locals' previous knowledge (that hot pepper cannot be washed off with water) to the idea that unseen germs can remain on seemingly clean hands, and can cause harm to the body.  Katherine's work counterpart enthusiastically embraced these hand washing activities, and he frequently demonstrates the importance of hand washing with soap to community members in surrounding villages.
2. Working with a local painter to design and draw hand washing murals in public places.  These murals depict a group of people lined up to wash their hands with soap before eating, and the phrase "Wash your hands with soap before eating" is written in both Bambara and Senufo (the two languages used in the village).  Located next to a major road, the murals attract attention and have sparked conversations about hand washing practices in the village.
3. Testing and sharing before and after bacterial film results for hands of a local family before and after hand washing.   After 24 hours, the film showed 77 dark red spots on the "water only" part of the film, as opposed to only 2 dark spots on the "washing with soap" half.  The community members expressed shock and disgust when viewing these results, and stated that the visual evidence of contamination was reason enough to finally start washing with soap.  Upon visiting the family at dinner time a week later, the Volunteer noted that they had washed their hands with soap.  The news of the results spread throughout the town